Jonathan+Little+on+Live+No Limiit+Holdem+Volume+1+ +Jonathan+Little

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Jonathan Little is a professional poker player from Pensacola, Florida who started playing poker when he turned 18 years old. He quickly became one of the biggest winners in online sit-n-go tournaments. He has won two WPT events and final tabled two others, earning him the Season 6 Player of the Year award. He has total earnings in excess of $5 million. In 2013, he cashed five times in the WSOP, including a 3rd place finish. He has cashed over 20 times in total at the WSOP. Jonathan is also a poker coach and runs the website floattheturn.com.

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First published in 2014 by D & B Publishing Copyright © 2014 Jonathan Little The right of Jonathan Little to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyrights, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, electrostatic, magnetic tape, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior permission of the publisher. British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. ISBN: 978 1 90945 723 2 All sales enquiries should be directed to D&B Poker: e-mail: [email protected]; website: www.dandbpoker.com

Cover design by Horatio Monteverde. Printed and bound by Versa Press in the US.

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Contents

Acknowledgments Introduction

Part One: Playing No-Limit Hold ‘em 1 Technical Skills: The Basics Expected Value Determining Your Equity Pot Odds Putting it All Together Implied Odds Reverse Implied Odds Hand Ranges 2 Playing Poker How Do You Win at Poker? Which Style is Ideal? Reasons to Bet 3 Pre-Flop How to Generate Reads Basic Pre-Flop Strategy Pre-Flop Opening Ranges When you get Three-Bet When You get Four-Bet When You get Five-Bet Leveling-War Math Slow-Playing Abnormal Situations Playing from the Small Blind Playing from the Big Blind Blind Versus Blind Dealing with Abnormal Raise Sizes 7

Straddling 4 The Flop Heads-up as the Aggressor in Position Heads-up as the Aggressor in Position in a Re-raised Pot Heads-up as the Aggressor in Position in a Four-bet Pot Heads-up as the Aggressor in Position in a Five-bet Pot Heads-up as the Aggressor out of Position Heads-up as the Caller in Position Heads-up as the Caller in Position in Re-raised Pots Heads-up as the Caller in Position in Four-bet Pots Heads-up as the Caller in Position in Five-bet Pots Heads-up as the Caller out of Position Multiway as the Aggressor Multiway as the Caller Limped Pots Summary 5 The Turn and the River In Position, Heads-Up, as the Aggressor with a Made Hand In Position, Heads-Up as the Aggressor, with a Bluff In Position, Heads-Up, as the Caller with a Made Hand In Position, Heads-Up as the Caller with a Bluff Out of Position, Heads-Up as the Aggressor with a Made Hand Out of Position, Heads-Up as the Aggressor with a Bluff Out of Position, Heads-Up as the Caller with a Made Hand Out of Position, Heads-Up as the Caller with a Bluff Multiway Conclusion 6 Common Leaks Playing too Tight Playing too Loose 7 Playing against Specific Player Types Tight, Passive, Weak Players Tight, Passive, Thinking Players Loose, Passive, Weak Players who Frequently Play Straightforwardly Loose, Passive, Weak Players who Bluff Often Tight, Aggressive Players who Overplay Top Pair Good, Tight, Aggressive Players 8

Loose, Overly Aggressive Players Good, Loose, Aggressive Players Bad Maniacs Good Maniacs Players who Mix it up Well Regulars who do not Vary Their Game Regulars who Frequently Play with You Stereotypes 8 Playing with Different Stack Sizes Playing with Larger Stacks Playing with Shorter Stacks

Part Two: Playing as a Professional 9 Other Skills Live Poker Game Selection Bankroll Management Focus Tells Logical Thinking Tilt Improving Live a Balanced Life Life Leaks Traveling the Live Circuit

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Acknowledgments

I would like to first thank my wonderful family, Larry, Rita and Garrett, for crafting me into the man I am today. I would also like to thank my fiancee Amie Broder for providing me with flawless support throughout the fairly turbulent process of writing this book. This book was not easy to write. Without her, this book would likely not be here today. Thanks to my poker heroes who have taught me everything I know, both at and away from the table, including, but certainly not limited to Shannon Shorr, Jack Schanbacher, Tom Dwan, Hoyt Corkins, Andrew Robl and Lee Markholt. I would finally like to thank all of my poker students, including you. Without your support, I would have likely lost my passion for the game years ago. Instead, I do my best every day to improve both as a poker player and as a person, not only for myself, but for all of you.

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Introduction

Players who sporadically follow my poker career often ask why I don’t play cash games. I actually play them almost every time I travel to a poker tournament. My plan when I go to a tournament series is to play cash games from the time I bust from an event until around midnight. I then go to sleep, wake up and repeat the process. I have spent five summers playing cash games on a daily basis during the World Series of Poker (WSOP). I have put in countless hours online at limits ranging from $2/$5 to $50/$100. I usually play live somewhere between $5/$10 and $25/$50 no-limit, although I have played as high as $200/$400. My followers don’t think I play cash games because I don’t often talk about them. In fact, very few professionals discuss ideas and concepts pertaining to live cash games with the general public. Live cash games are possibly the most profitable arena in poker, and the pros don’t want to give up their edge. Before we delve too deeply into the rabbit hole – and trust me, it is deep – I want to make sure you have a solid grasp of the fundamental poker concepts that have become the focal point of most other poker books. If you do not know the rules of the game, please consult the internet. I will only spend a little time on concepts such as expected value and pot odds because I assume you already have been exposed to that information. If these topics are new to you, don’t worry. I will explain each concept and quickly get you up to speed. From there, I will explain how I attack every player at every table. This will include my default strategy for all betting rounds, which is quite robust because each player is unique. As you probably know, especially if you have read my other books, poker is not a game you can beat by simply following a basic strategy chart. This game is dense. Once you know how to play a technically sound game, I will address some of the more common leaks I see players demonstrate at the table on a daily basis, many of them easily fixed once discovered. The last section of the book will deal with other skills you must master if you want to make it on the live cash-game circuit. I will lay out my thoughts on bankroll management, focus, game selection and finding ways to improve. I will also discuss the psychological aspects of the game, such as tilt, tells, living a balanced life and logical thinking. Finally, I will explain how to thrive in the live environment. I will address playing live poker in the most profitable manner, plugging life leaks and pinpointing and attacking the most universal player types. Some material may appear to be repeated from my past books, but rest assured I 11

am totally rewriting everything. I have improved greatly over the last few years, both in my understanding of the game and in my psychological fortitude, mostly because I’ve learned how to beat the high-stakes online cash games. If you do not understand some of the concepts in the book, I urge you to visit my poker training site, FloatTheTurn.com. There you will find my poker forum, where you can post all your questions for free. Be sure to check out the free training videos on FloatTheTurn. I hope you are as excited as I am. Let’s get to work.

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Chapter 1 Technical Skills: The Basics

As a warning to those who are mathematically challenged, there is a bit of math throughout the next few pages. I will do my best to make it as painless as possible. If you struggle with the math in this section, I strongly suggest you pick up a prealgebra or algebra book and work through it. You simply must grasp the concepts of expected value, equity and pot odds if you want to succeed at poker. After we cover these three concepts, the math will be similar and minimal. You can do it!

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Expected Value People flirt with the concept of expected value (EV) on a daily basis. Simply put, expected value is the weighted average of all possible outcomes of an event. I will demonstrate using a few practice games and show you how to determine your expected value in each event. Suppose we are going to flip a coin. It is known that heads will come 50% of the time and tails will come the other 50% of the time. If you flip the coin once and it lands on heads, that certainly does not mean heads will come every time. Even if you flip the coin 100 times and heads come 60% of the time, in the long run, it will come only 50% of the time. If you want to waste a lot of time, flip a coin a million times and see how often heads come. It will almost certainly come somewhere between 49.5% and 50.5% of the time. The more flips you put in, the closer the average will be to 50%. Now, suppose we are going to flip the coin one time. If heads come, you have to give me $100, and if tails come, I have to give you $200. While it should be fairly obvious you will win a lot of money from me in the long run, a simple calculation will tell us exactly how much you will win on average every time we flip. Expected Value = (% heads come)(payoff) + (% tails come)(payout) So, your EV = 0.5($200) + 0.5(-$100) = $100 - $50 = $50 profit per flip. In turn, my EV = 0.5($100) + 0.5(-$200) = $50 - $100 = $50 loss per flip. You can run a similar exercise with the rolling of a six-sided die. Suppose if a 1 rolls, I have to give you $100, and if a 2, 3, 4, 5 or 6 rolls, you have to give me $25. Who wins now? Your EV = 0.166($100) + 0.833(-25) = $16.6 - $20.8 = -$4.20 per roll. On average, this game would net you a hefty $4.20 loss every roll. You can easily solve most games similar to this by using this simple formula. Most casino games are similar to this, with the casino winning a tiny percentage, on average, every time a bet is placed. It is imperative to recognize that no matter what happens on any individual trial of a fair game – meaning no one is cheating – you will win money in the long run if the game is +EV for you, and you will lose money in the long run if it is -EV. It is as simple as that.

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Determining Your Equity Whenever you play a poker hand, you either have the best hand or you have a worse hand at each point throughout the hand. With the best hand, there is no guarantee you will actually win the pot. It is usually fairly simple to figure out how often you will win a hand if you also know your opponent’s holding, or if you know your hand cannot possibly win if it does not improve. Suppose you have 8-7 and the board is A-6-5-K. If an opponent bet both the flop and turn, you almost certainly have a worse hand with 8-high. However, because any 9 or 4 on the river will give you the best hand, you have some amount of equity in the pot. There are 46 unseen cards remaining in the deck. You know your two cards and the four on board, and you know that eight out of those 46 unseen cards will give you the best hand. Therefore, you will win this hand 8/46, or 17.4% of the time. So, if the pot is $100, you own $17.40 of it. If the pot is $500, you own $87. Notice that for every dollar that goes in the pot at this exact point, you will get $0.174 back in the long run. Suppose you get all-in with K-J on a K-6-5 board and your opponent has A-K. To determine your rough equity, figure out how likely you are to win with one card to come, and then double it. Notice this will not give you the exact number be cause if a J comes on the turn, your opponent could always catch an A on the river. Since there are now 45 unseen cards and you know you have three outs, you have 2(3/45) = 13% equity. There is a trick you can use at the table to quickly estimate your equity. On the flop, count your outs and multiply that number by four. Add a percent sign and that is roughly equal to your equity. On the turn, count your outs and multiply that number by two. Add a percent sign and that is your approximate equity. So, if you have 12 outs on the flop, you have roughly 12(4) = 48% equity. If you have four outs on the turn, you have about 4(2) = 8% equity. These numbers are not exact but they tend to be close enough. You will rarely have to use precise numbers at the table. You can use a similar method requiring significantly more math to figure out the odds of any two hands before the flop, but for simplicity, I will list the rough winning percentages of all situations. All hands listed are unsuited. Note that being suited usually adds a small amount of equity to that hand, usually around 3%. I strongly suggest you download a poker-equity calculator and play around with a lot of situations until you generally know how well each hand does against each other hand before the flop. Pair vs. one of the same card with an undercard, e.g., K-K vs. K-Q, J-J vs. J-5: 92% Pair vs. unpaired undercards, e.g., J-J vs. 5-3, A-A vs. K-Q: 82% 16

Big pair vs. small pair, e.g., A-A vs. 2-2, 10-10 vs. 6-6: 80% Any hand vs. a hand with three outs, e.g., A-K vs. K-Q, J-6 vs. 7-7: 74% Two big cards vs. two smaller cards, e.g., A-K vs. Q-J, K-J vs. 5-4: 62% Two hands with interlocking card, e.g., A-10 vs. K-4, K-J vs. Q-10: 62% One big card and one small card vs. two middle cards, e.g., A-4 vs. 7-6, K-10 vs. Q-J: 57% Pair vs. unpaired overcards, e.g., J-J vs. A-Q, 4-4 vs. 7-6: 53%

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Pot Odds Whenever you face a bet, you have to risk some amount of money in exchange for the potential to win the pot. Your pot odds are the ratio of the current size of the pot, including the bet you are facing, to the amount of that bet. For example, suppose your opponent bets $20 into a $40 pot. To continue in the hand, you have to put in $20 for the chance to win $60, i.e., the $40 pot plus your opponent’s $20 bet. Your pot odds are 60:20, or 3:1. Convert the ratio to a percentage to determine how often you need to win the hand to break even. To do that, take the right part of the ratio and divide it by the sum of both the left and right part of the ratio. In this case it would be 1/(3+1) = ¼ = 25%. As another example, if someone bets $172 into a pot of $190, you will be getting 362:172, or 2.1:1, which means you need to win 172/(362+172) = 172/534 = 32% of the time to break even.

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Putting it All Together When facing a bet, once you know how often you will win and how much you stand to win, you can calculate the expected value of every bet. Suppose you have 8-7 against A-K on A-6-5-K. Your opponent goes all-in for $32 into a $50 pot. To figure out if you should call, compare your pot odds to your chances of winning. You should fold if your pot odds are higher than your chances of winning, and call if your pot odds are lower than that. In this example, your pot odds are 32/(50 + 32 + 32) = 28%, and you know you will hit your draw 17.4% of the time. Since 28% is greater than 17.4%, you have to fold. If instead your opponent bet $32 into a $132 pot, your pot odds would be 32/(132+32+32) = 16%. Since 16% is lower than 17.4%, you would have to call. In my head, I think of this as, “I am going to win 17 percent of the time and I only need to win 16 percent of the time to break even, so I have to call.” Now that you know how to calculate whether a call is profitable or not, you must learn to determine how much money you make or lose by calling. Again, suppose you have 8-7 against A-K on A-6-5-K. Your opponent goes all-in for $32 into a $50 pot. You can calculate your expected value by taking the amount you expect to get out of a pot on average and subtracting the amount you are putting in the pot. So, in this case, the total pot if you call will be $114. EV = (0.174)($114) - $32 = -$12.16. So, you lose $12.16 each time you make this call. To calculate your profit when the pot is $132 instead of $50, you have: EV = (0.174)(196) - $32 = $2.10. So, every time you make the call in this situation, you win $2.10, making this call marginally profitable. Eventually, you will know when a situation is +EV, simply due to repetition. It may take you a bit of time to get it at first, but stick with it and practice whenever you have the opportunity. There are a lot of pots and a lot of bets in no-limit hold’em. Every time you see someone bet, try to calculate the other player’s pot odds and figure out how much equity he needs to continue in the hand.

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Implied Odds Whenever someone makes a bet before the flop, on the flop or on the turn, you can frequently expect him to make additional bets later in the hand. Implied odds account for this by adding the amount you expect will go into the pot on later betting rounds to the size of the current pot when calculating pot odds. For example, say you and your opponent both have $500 and are playing $2/$5 no-limit. You raise with 7-7 to $12 from the button and your opponent, a tight, straightforward player who only re-raises with A-A, K-K and Q-Q, re-raises to $32 from the big blind. Since you know 7-7 will only win 20% of the time against those hands, you know you do not have the correct immediate pot odds to call. Also, note that you will only flop a set around 12% of the time, as that 20% equity assumes you see all five cards, which is unlikely. You have to risk $20 to win $46. You are getting 2.3:1, meaning you need to win 30% of the time to break even, which you know you will not do. You will only hit a set 12% of the time on the flop and you need to hit it 30% of the time to make this call profitable, which it would not be if the hand was over after this betting round. However, if you flop another 7, giving you a set, you can expect to win a lot of money from your opponent because he probably has a strong hand, and there is a lot of money behind. Note that you can only win as much as the shallowest stack in a heads-up pot. If your opponent has $500 and you have $200, you can only win $200, which will drasti cally decrease your implied odds. Pay attention to everyone’s stack size at all times. At this point, you should try to estimate how much you stand to win if you hit your set. Since both you and your opponent have $500 total, that is the maximum amount you can win. However, there is no guarantee your opponent will lose his entire stack every time you hit a set. Notice that if he has Q-Q and the flop comes A-7-5, he will lose very little, but he will usually lose his entire stack if he has AA and the flop comes 7-4-2. There is no exact answer as to how much you should expect to win. Your estimate should depend on your opponent’s tendencies. For example, some players will fold A-A on a board such as 7-6-4 if you show any significant aggression, and some will never fold K-K on an A-8-5 board because they view K-K as a premium hand despite the awful flop. In this situation, let’s assume you will win an additional $250 on average whenever you hit your set. Now, you are risking an additional $20 to win $46 plus an additional $250 on later streets. Your implied odds are 14.8:1, meaning you only need to flop a set 6% of the time to break even. Since you will flop a set 12% of the time, this call will show a huge profit if you have accurately estimated your implied odds. Implied odds apply to every draw. Your implied odds tend to be huge when your opponent’s range is strong and he will either not care or not see if you hit your draw. For example, if you have 9-8 against your opponent’s A-A on an A-J-7-5 20

board, you likely have significant implied odds if the turn or river is a 10 or a 6. However, if you have K -Q against your opponent’s A -A on an A -9 -5 board, you probably won’t get paid off if the turn or the river is a heart. Your implied odds with deep stacks in live cash games are often not as great as you think, especially against timid opponents who only put a lot of money in with the nuts. Consider your opponent’s tendencies when estimating your implied odds. You will tend to have large implied odds if your opponent thinks top pair, top kicker is the nuts regardless of the board. They will usually be nonexistent if your opponent will only put his stack in with the nuts. There is nothing worse than calling a big turn bet with a flush draw, assuming you have large implied odds, only to see your opponent check-fold his strong made hand on the river when the flush card arrives.

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Reverse Implied Odds Reverse implied odds are the exact opposite of implied odds. Instead of winning a large pot if you hit your hand, you will lose a large pot if you hit with a hand that has big reverse implied odds. For example, suppose you raise from middle position with K-10 and a player on the button calls with K-Q. If you both hit a K on the flop, you stand to lose a lot of money because your opponent has a better kicker. Because of reverse implied odds, especially when deep-stacked, you must play cautiously with hands that tend to make top pair with a marginal kicker, such as A-9 and K-J. As stacks get significantly deeper, premium hands such as A-A start to have large reverse implied odds when played by a weak player. In the example from the implied odds section where you had 7-7 and your opponent had either A-A, K-K or Q-Q, since you had large implied odds, your opponent had large reverse implied odds. Notice that he is going to win a tiny pot most of the time when you miss your set, or else he will lose a giant pot, around 12% of the time, when you hit your set. In general, you do not want to play a straightforward strategy such that your opponents can count on having huge implied odds. Reverse implied odds can also demolish you when you have a weak draw against an opponent who either has a decent made hand or a strong draw. For example, if you have 6 -5 and called a flop and turn bet on an A -J -9 -7 board, if you hit either of your draws on the river, you can easily be crushed by a better draw or get no action from a marginal made hand. If you miss your draw, you will likely lose the pot unless you decide to run a large bluff. If your opponent has a hand such as A-K, he will be unlikely to pay off a large bet when you hit your draw. You stand to lose a giant pot if you hit your draw and your opponent hits a better one. You will win a small pot if you hit your draw and your opponent misses his better draw. Clearly, you want to avoid this situation when possible.

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Hand Ranges In a live game you will often hear someone say something such as, “I put him on AK so I called with my 2-2.” I want to make it perfectly clear that it is not often possible to magically predict your opponent’s hand before the flop in the absence of an insanely accurate bet-sizing tell. Someone who raises to $30 in a $5/$10 nolimit game has a range of hands he would play in that exact manner, not just one specific hand. As you play with more experienced players, you will find they play some hands exactly the same way on every street, meaning they can show up with vastly different hands with the same betting patterns, making them difficult to play against. As a simple example, suppose a tight, straightforward player raises to $30 at $5/$10 from early position. You know he would only play A-A, K-K, Q-Q, J-J, 1010, 9-9, A-K and A-Q this way. You also know that on the flop your opponent will continuation-bet with this entire range, and he will only bet the turn with top pair or better. Suppose you call his pre-flop raise with J-J on the button. Notice that reraising against a range as strong as your opponent’s would not be advisable. The flop comes 9-5-3. Your opponent bets $50 and you call. The turn is a 6. Your opponent bets $100. At this point, since you know your opponent has at least top pair, the worst hand he could have is 10-10. You can remove A-K and A-Q from his range because he would not bet the turn with those hands. Since you lose to all better hands, which make up most of his range, it would be wise to fold. Most amateur players simply “put him on 10-10” and call down. The amateur will feel intelligent if his opponent actually has 10-10. He will assume he was unlucky and curse the poker gods if his opponent shows up with A-A, K-K, Q-Q, JJ or 9-9. A much better strategy is to think logically and make your decisions based on what your opponent likely has, and not what you hope he has. There is no room for hope in poker. If your reads are spot on, as they were in this example, you can figure out how often you are beat. In this simple example, he has five hands that beat you and one that does not. Notice that 9-9 makes up a smaller portion of his range because there is a 9 on the board. There are six possible combinations of A-A (A -A , A -A , A -A , A -A , A -A and A -A ), K-K, Q-Q and J-J. There are three combinations of 9-9. There are six combinations of 10-10. So, you beat six combinations of hands and you lose to 27 combinations, meaning you have the best hand 6/27 = 22% of the time. If you are getting around 3.2:1, based on your opponent’s bet size, you should continue to the river even though you will often have the worst hand. You do not need the exact pot odds required, 3.5:1, in order to call because you have at least some implied odds when you hit your set, which you should know will happen a paltry 4.5% of the time. Remember, to figure out how often you will hit your set on the river, you should divide your outs, 2, by the 23

number of unseen cards, 44. It is nearly impossible to know an opponent as well as in the example because few people play that straightforwardly. Each player will start with a range of hands and, based on his actions on each street, you will be able to narrow it. You should usually have a decent idea of what a tight player has by the time you reach the river. A loose, aggressive player will have a much wider range, making him tougher to play against. Start putting players on ranges during every hand. This will keep you actively involved at the table and will constantly challenge you. You may find you consistently assume players will be tighter or looser than they actually are. Do not get discouraged if you are initially bad at this. With practice, you will hone this mandatory skill and eventually appear to be a wizard at the poker table.

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Chapter 2 Playing Poker

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How Do You Win at Poker? There is no shortage of players who preach about how and why they win at poker. Some think they make money by making hands that are better than those of their opponents. Others think they make money by running huge bluffs and pushing everyone around. You actually make money in poker by winning more and losing less than other players in each specific situation. For example, everyone generally knows how to play 9-9 when the flop comes A-K-9. However, there is significant room for debate when you have Q-J on a K-J-7 board. Over time, everyone will get the same proportion of premium, mediocre and weak hands. In the long run, there is very little luck involved. If we all play 10 million hands, we will see roughly the same distribution of each hand, meaning we all get the same cards over time. You make money by being better than your opponents at navigating the tough situations. If you can find ways to win hands your opponents do not win, you will increase your win rate. If you save money when you are beat that other people would lose, you also increase your winnings. Large swings in the short run are inevitable and feeble-minded players constantly complain about these due to a lack of understanding of this concept. However, if you make better decisions than your opponents every time you sit down at the table, you will win in the long run. For this reason, you want to play with people who play poorly.

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Which Style is Ideal? There is frequent discussion between professional players as to whether a player will make more money, in the long run, with a tight, aggressive style or a loose, aggressive style. To be clear, there are varying degrees of each strategy. For example, a tight, aggressive player may play only the most premium hands, or simply a tighter range than most players. I have to address each player type somehow, so I will group similar players together. I will discuss each player type’s typical leaks and how to exploit them throughout this book. As I outline each playing style and its strengths and weaknesses, try to determine which you think is best, and why. I’ll go ahead and tell you now that being passive is rarely ideal.

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Tight, Passive Players A tight, passive player (TP) wants to have a premium hand whenever a lot of money goes in the pot. This player type makes up the vast majority of small-stakes players. It is as if they want to play poker but are afraid of losing money, which happens to be one of the two possible outcomes when you sit down at the table. Because of this, they slowly bleed off their stacks, either to good players or to the rake. TPs almost never run bluffs due to their fear of having to turn up a losing hand. From time to time, TPs find themselves in a game full of overly wild players who are not paying attention. If the TP wakes up with a string of premium hands, he stands to win a lot of money. However, good players rarely pay off the TP when he wants to put money in the pot because it is obvious he has a strong hand. While playing on the tighter side is acceptable, being passive is usually not.

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Loose, Passive Players A loose, passive player (LP) looks to see a lot of flops as cheaply as possible, hoping to make a strong hand. This player type makes up a sizable proportion of the player pool at small- and middle-stakes games. To see as many flops as possible, these players frequently limp in, call raises and even call re-raises with hands they think have potential, such as K-10 and 10-8. They occasionally bluff, and when they do, they usually do so in a blatantly transparent manner, betting too large or too small. LPs often lack solid post-flop skills, although some of them play well enough to survive in the middle-stakes games.

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Tight, Aggressive Players A tight, aggressive player (TAG) usually plays a fairly small range of strong hands and tends to play them aggressively. TAGs tend to have stronger ranges than their opponents, which leads them to win more pots based on the strength of their hands. However, TAGs usually offer their opponents high implied odds because they tend to have strong made hands that are susceptible to draws. Because they play strong hands, TAGs’ bankrolls tend to have a fairly smooth ride without too much variance, making this strategy enticing to players who are working with a small bankroll. Bad TAGs, with the tightest variety being referred to as nits, are frequently huge losing players because their opponents wait until they can beat A-A and then pile in the money. Bad TAGs refuse to believe their top pair, top kicker is no good, and usually end up broke. They also give up on too many pots when they have what they perceive as a weak hand, such as 10-10 on a J-9-2 board. This makes them susceptible to constant bluffing, especially when they show weakness. Many bad TAGs want to have a “strong” hand such as top pair when they put money in the pot. Hence, they run few bluffs, although they could usually steal the pot if they tried. Bad TAGs tend to play a weak post-flop game due to their unwillingness to get the least bit out of line. Obviously, you do not want to be a bad TAG. Good TAGs, on the other hand, are quite capable of getting away from “strong” hands, such as A-A on a J-10-6-5 board, when it makes sense. They are also capable of making light call-downs when they think their opponent’s range is weak. The best TAGs realize they have the ideal image to run insane bluffs, and frequently represent hands they could realistically have within their tight range. Most good TAGs are capable of mixing up their play on every street and are surprisingly difficult to play against. Being a good TAG is a not a bad idea, especially in a game filled with loose, aggressive players who constantly attack any sign of weakness.

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Loose, Aggressive Players A loose, aggressive player (LAG) plays a wide range of hands in an aggressive way. LAGs try to make the best hand with marginal pre-flop holdings, but when they don’t, they are quite capable of running bluffs. LAGs tend to realize fairly high implied odds because their opponents wait for a decent hand, such as top pair, top kicker, and refuse to fold, assuming they have lured the LAG into bluffing. LAGs’ bankrolls tend to swing wildly due to their reasonably high bluffing frequency. If they fail at a few big bluffs in a row, they find themselves in a deep hole. Bad LAGs, the loosest variety being known as maniacs, are usually huge losing players because they refuse to show caution when it is obvious their opponents have a hand they don’t plan on releasing. If you know your opponent has top pair and he is never folding because you appear to be crazy, bluffing is equivalent to lighting money on fire. Most bad LAGs try to win every pot when their opposition shows weakness. They refuse to accept that it is impossible to win every hand. Usually, bad LAGs have a desire to prove they are macho, refusing to be pushed around. They frequently pay off TAGs in situations where the TAG obviously has a premium hand. You do not want to be a bad LAG, although having a little bit of crazy in you certainly has its benefits. Good LAGs are generally the toughest opponents. They play a wide range of hands in an intelligent way. They apply pressure when it makes sense, but also know how to put on the brakes when their bluff is obviously doomed. Because they play a wide pre-flop range, they’re called down more than other player types, allowing them to value-bet marginal hands profitably. The best LAGs apply just enough pressure to make their opponents assume they are maniacs, but often show up with strong holdings when significant money goes in the pot. This style is both engaging and profitable if you play well post-flop.

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Which Style Prevails? At a generic table with a mix of all player types, playing the style of either a slightly loose TAG or a slightly tight LAG shows the most profit. You want to be somewhere in the middle. In an ideal world, you want to raise with a wide range of hands pre-flop and win most pots with a continuation bet. Since you play a lot of hands, players will assume you are running a lot of wild bluffs, which will induce them to pay you off whenever you have something. The goal is to make a decent number of small bluffs such that your opponents as sume you will frequently make large bluffs, whereas in reality, you will typically have a strong range when a lot of money goes in the pot. If your table is occupied mostly by players of one specific type, you should drastically alter your playing style to exploit them. For example, if your table is full of maniacs, you should play TP, allowing them to bluff off their chips. To show the most profit, you must be able to adjust to both your opponents’ image as well as your opponents’ perception of your image. If you have shown down the nuts three times and haven’t shown a bluff in the last hour, you should strongly consider running some bluffs because your opponents will likely fold too often, assuming you only play strong hands. If you have been caught bluffing recently, you should probably not run another bluff in the near future, unless your opponents assume you will never run two bluffs in a row. Figure out what your opponents expect you to do and then do the opposite. It is important to not have a set style. You must be able to choose the style that makes sense for each situation. You will often be at a table where you should play overly LAG against some players and TP against others. Imagine three players at the table are TP, folding whenever they have worse than top pair, top kicker after the flop. Three players at the same table seem to raise or re-raise every time they enter the pot and then barrel off mindlessly. You should frequently run bluffs against the TPs and try to have decent hands against the LAGs. Base your style of play not on your table in general, but on specific opponents. Play a different style against each player, looking to exploit his specific weaknesses. There is nothing wrong with playing a solid TAG game if the stacks are greater than 75 big blinds. Unlike tournaments, where the blinds constantly increase, there is relatively little pressure from the blinds in cash games. Blind stealing is not a mandatory part of the game, assuming your opponents will still give you action if you only play strong hands. If you buy into a $5/$10 game with $1,500 and your opponents play poorly, sitting around and waiting for powerful starting hands is likely to be a winning strategy. However, if you want to make the most money, you must get a bit out of line and learn to win the pots that don’t belong to you.

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Reasons to Bet There are four main reasons to bet. A bet often serves multiple purposes. Whenever you make a bet, you should have a clear idea of why you are betting and what you hope to accomplish. If you cannot figure out why you are betting, it is likely a poor decision. The primary reasons to bet are to get value from worse hands or to bluff, forcing your opponents off better hands. If you are betting only for protection or information, you are likely making an error.

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Value The main reason most players bet, especially in small- and middle-stakes games, is for value. They bet with strong hands, hoping to get called by worse hands. Say you raise with a hand such as A-K and one player calls. If you flop top pair, top kicker, you should usually bet on every street for value, expecting to be called down by a worse made hand. Most of your profit in live cash games comes from getting value when other players do not. Be aware that most players do not value-bet nearly as often as they should. Most players know they should value-bet the flop and turn with a hand such as top pair, but on the river, they see monsters in the closet and decide to check, fearing they are beat. Most live cash-game players take the concept of pot control to the ex treme because they dread losing their stack and having to pull more cash out of their pockets. When you bet for value against an opponent who will rarely bluff, which is often the case, a bet that a worse hand will call at least 51% of the time will make money in the long run. Have no fear when it comes to pushing small edges in cash games, especially if you are properly bankrolled. Suppose you raise with Q -J with 125big blind stacks and a TAG calls on the button. The flop comes K -J -6 . Assume you know your opponent will raise the flop with top pair or a better made hand and will call with all other one-pair hands and draws. If you continuation-bet and your opponent calls, then if an A or 9 does not come on the turn, you should likely bet on the turn and again on the river, as you have most of your opponent’s calling range beat. Notice that having the best hand 51% of the time is not a good enough reason to value-bet. If you have the best hand 90% of the time but your opponent will fold all hands worse than yours if you bet, then you should not bet, because you will lose every time you are called. A prime mistake of amateur players is to bet because they think they have the best hand. They don’t consider how often they have the best hand when they’re called. It is important to size your value bets such that your opponent can reasonably call with hands you beat. If you think your opponent’s calling range on the river consists mostly of A-high and bottom-pair hands, your value bet should tend to be fairly small because few players call huge bets with weak holdings. However, a few players think small bets are strong and large bets are weak. Bet large against those players with your entire value range, even if you think their calling range is weak. Perhaps the best strategy for value-betting, especially at small- and mediumstakes games, is to bet with a fairly wide range for value with the intention of folding if your opponent raises. For this play to be profitable, you usually must know your opponent is not capable of raising as a bluff on any street and will call down with marginal made hands. Suppose you raise A-10 with 100-big blind 34

stacks and a straightforward player calls on the button. You bet an A-6-4 board and your opponent calls. You bet again on a J turn, but now your opponent raises. If he is straightforward, you have an easy fold. However, if you know he is capable of raising with a hand such as A-8, 7-5 or 6-5, your decision becomes much more difficult. Once you put in a fair amount of time at the table, it should not be too difficult to pinpoint which players are capable of raising as a bluff or semi-bluff, allowing you to confidently value-bet with the intention of folding to a raise. There is no set guide for how to play each type of hand. Your actions and bet sizes are all player-dependent. If you have read my tournament books, you know I am a big fan of controlling the size of the pot. Understand that poker tournaments and cash games require different strategies. You make money in tournaments by stealing blinds and conserving your stack, looking for situations where you have a large edge. In a cash game, because you can always rebuy if things go poorly, there is no value in passing up tiny edges. If you have the best hand and your opponent will probably call with a worse hand, you should tend to value-bet.

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Bluffing You must master bluffing if you want to crush live cash games. I think of a bluff as a bet that is meant to force an opponent to immediately or eventually fold a specific range of hands you cannot beat at showdown. Bluffs can range from a simple continuation bet with little showdown value to an elaborate, multi-street play culminating with an all-in bet. Bluffs range in value, from total bluffs, where you expect to have no equity when called, to strong semi-bluffs, where you figure to have nearly 50% equity when called. Below I will outline a few bluffs you will run on a regular basis, but realize that the possibilities are endless. I will discuss additional bluffing lines throughout the book. Bluffing is easy against bad players who are only concerned with their two hole cards. You simply have to figure out how they play their strong hands and then attack them whenever you believe they don’t have one, assuming you know they are capable of laying down mediocre and weak hands. Bluffing gets more difficult as your opposition improves. Against reasonable competition, you have to determine how they expect you to play your value hands, and then play your bluffs in that manner, assuming you know your opponent has a hand he is willing to fold in that specific betting sequence. Against excellent players, you have to disguise your value bets and bluffs to look the same and then slightly adjust your bluffing frequency either up or down, based on how often you expect to get called. As you progress as a poker player, you will learn when and why to run bluffs in every situation. To run a successful bluff, you usually need to have a reason to attempt it in the first place. Some reasons include your opponent appearing weak, a scary card coming on the board or your opponent thinking you usually play only strong hands. You need a reason to believe either that your opponent’s hand is weak but better than yours, or that he will think your hand is better than his strong hand. Running a bluff without a legitimate reason usually ends in failure. To determine what percentage of the time a bluff must succeed to be profitable in the long run when you have zero equity when called, divide your bet by the sum of your bet and the size of the current pot. So, if the pot is $100 and you make a potsized bluff on the river, your bluff will show a profit if your opponent calls less than 100/(100 + 100) = 50% of the time. If you bet $25 instead, you only need your opponent to fold 25/(25+100) = 20% of the time to show a profit. Larger bets will usually, but not always, induce your opponent to fold more often than will smaller bets. As you improve at range assessment, you will be able to choose bet sizes that enable you to profitably bluff based on your opponent’s range and calling tendencies.

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Semi-Bluffing A semi-bluff is a bluff made with a hand that is usually beat at the moment but has a decent chance to become the best hand in the future. The most obvious example of this is when you raise the flop or turn with a flush or straight draw. Say your opponent raises, you call with 4 -3 and the flop comes K -6 -5 . If your opponent bets, raising is a strong option because any spade, 7 or 2 will usually give you the best hand. Notice that if you just call, you have to hit your hand to win, but if you raise, you can win either by making your opponent fold a better hand or by completing your draw. Having two ways to win is better than one way. Think about your implied odds and overall range when making a semi-bluff. You do not want your opponent to know you have mostly draws in your range. This is why good players often raise the K -6 -5 board with sets, two pair, strong top pairs and draws. This puts their opponents in difficult situations because they don’t know if they are facing a premium made hand or a draw. Either way, they are in rough shape with a hand such as K-Q. If you can frequently put your opponent in tough situations when he has hands as strong as top pair, you will find most small pots being pushed in your direction. Semi-bluffs vary in strength and potential. In general, the fewer outs you have, the higher your implied odds, because your draw is less visible. Suppose someone raises and you call with Q -J on the button. The flop comes 9 -8 -3 . If your opponent bets, raising is an excellent play as long as the stacks are somewhat deep. If your opponent calls and the turn is a diamond, Q or 7, he will often assume you hit your “obvious” straight or flush, allowing you to win the pot with a turn bet. If a 10 comes, your opponent will assume you missed your draw, allowing you to get paid off when you make the nuts. Also, if a Q or J comes, you will have a decent top pair that will tend to have some showdown value. Notice that a turn bet will induce your opponent to fold when the draws you don’t have arrive, and you have a decent shot of getting paid off when you hit, making this an ideal semi-bluff situation even though you only have a gutshot with overcards on a scary board. Hands such as bottom pair become decent semi-bluff candidates on less drawheavy boards. Suppose someone raises, a player calls and you call with 5 -4 on the button. The flop comes J -6 -4 . If the first player bets and the other player either calls or folds, you have a reasonable semi-bluff situation. If the continuation bettor has a J, he will have to worry that either the caller or you have him beat. The caller will usually have a marginal made hand and will likely fold to your aggression. Notice that if an opponent calls with one pair, you have a decent chance of improving and you can also win the pot with an additional bet on some turn cards. Realize that any club, 8, 7, 3 or 2 gives you an additional semi-bluff opportunity on the turn, allowing you to put in addi tional money with significant fold equity plus showdown equity. 37

Three-Bet Bluffing A three-bet is simply a re-raise. The first bet consists of the blinds, a second bet is a raise and a third bet is a re-raise. So, if someone raises to $10 and you re-raise to $25, you have three-bet. While most players in small stakes games three-bet only for value, players in bigger, more difficult games will three-bet with a wide range of hands, making them much tougher opponents. Three-betting ranges of good players are usually either polarized or unpolarized. An unpolarized range consists of what most people consider to be “good” hands, such as A-A, A-K, A-J, K-J, Q-10 and 6-6. In general, this is not a good strategy because you will be unable to represent a wide range after the flop. If the flop comes 8-7-4, your opponent can easily attack you because he knows you do not reraise with hands that hit that board. An unpolarized range is made up of both premium hands and hands with potential or blockers such as A-A, A-K, J-J, A-3, K -5 , 9 -7 and 2-2. A blocker, usually an A or K, is a card that takes combinations of strong hands out of your opponent’s range. For example, if an A is out of the deck, it becomes significantly more difficult for your opponent to have A-A or A-K, weakening his range. Notice that a polarized three-betting range leaves room for calling with hands such as K-Q, J-10, middle pairs and decent suited connectors, allowing you to see more flops. It also allows you to represent a broader range on every flop, making you more difficult to play against. Your three-betting range depends mostly on your opponent’s tendencies. If your opponent calls with a wide range of hands, it’s not a good idea to re-raise with blockers because you will frequently see a flop with a hand that doesn’t play well post-flop. If your opponent tends to four-bet or fold, rarely calling your three-bets, you should look to call instead of re-raising with hands such as A-J and K-Q because they are too good to fold but too weak to continue against a standard fourbetting range. If your opponent calls three-bets with hands such as Q-9 and J-8, reraising hands such as A-J and K-10 becomes an excellent option because you will get significant value from your opponent’s wide calling range. If you can figure out which hands are likely in your opponent’s range, you will be able to tailor your reraising range accordingly. If you want to get action with your premium hands, unless you are playing with opponents who are not paying attention, you must occasionally bluff pre-flop. To be more precise, re-raising with marginal hands is a form of semi-bluffing because you always have equity. Actively working bluffs into every betting range you have on every street will drastically increase your profitability against opponents who are capable of folding.

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Continuation-betting A continuation bet is the most standard bluff you will run on almost every hand you play as the aggressor. When you raise pre-flop and someone calls, the caller will frequently check to the pre-flop aggressor on the flop. As the aggressor, you should make a bet on every flop that is either good for your range, good for your hand or bad for your opponent’s range. Especially when deep-stacked, if you play a tight range of hands pre-flop, you will see relatively few good flops for your range, forcing you to continuation-bet infrequently. If you open a wide range of hands, you can almost always continuation-bet because every flop could conceivably hit your range. For example, a loose early-position raiser can happily continuation-bet on an A-J-6, J-8-4 or 63-2 board, whereas a tight raiser can realistically represent only the A-J-6 board. You must also be cognizant of how your opponents play. You should continuation-bet almost every time against a straightforward player because your opponent will tend to fold when he has nothing and continue when he has something. Since your opponent will connect with the flop only 35% of the time, if you make a 2/3-pot continuation-bet, you will immediately profit because your bet will work 65% of the time, while it only needs to work (2/3)/(2/3 + 1) = 40% of the time to be profitable. This does not even consider the times you actually make a strong hand. If your opponent frequently attacks flops that are either bad for your range or good for his perceived range, you should continuation-bet less often because he will apply pressure, forcing you to fold incorrectly.

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Floating To float is to call your opponent’s continuation bet on either the flop or turn with the intention of taking the pot away on a later street either by betting when your opponent shows weakness or by raising when he continues to bet on the turn. Floating tends to work better as stacks get deeper. You ideally want to be in position when floating. When you call a continuation bet on the flop, you are forcing your opponent to either bet again on the turn, risking a decent number of chips, or to check. You can bet if your opponent checks, again forcing him to take a risk. You generally want to have at least some equity when you float, although it is not mandatory. Hands such as overcards and gutshots are particularly good to float with because the draws are concealed and they have reasonable equity, but not enough that you want to raise with them every time as a semi-bluff on the flop. The best opponents for you to float usually continuation-bet frequently but play the turn and river in a straightforward manner. This strategy is common among regulars who make just enough money to squeak by. They have no problem throwing out a continuation bet, but they tighten up when big money comes into play. Floating and raising the flop as a semi-bluff tend to complement each other. You should use both tools frequently to slowly chisel away at your opponents. There are countless scenarios in which you can bluff creatively. You must be able to think ahead, with a clear idea of how you plan to proceed on future betting rounds. Most of the time when you bluff, you are actually setting yourself up to be in a tricky situation in the future because you have little or no showdown value. To become an excellent player, you must learn to navigate these tough spots well. Throughout this book, I will discuss various bluffing lines you can use to take advantage of your opponents, both weak and strong. Bluffing can contribute nicely to your win rate if you do not get too far out of line.

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Protection Misunderstanding the concept of betting for protection is the main reason amateur players do not succeed in cash games. A player might say, “I raised there because I didn’t want to get outdrawn.” In reality, you should not mind being outdrawn if you’ve given your opponent the incorrect price to draw, which they often set for themselves by betting too large. The main problem with the amateur’s thinking is that your opponent isn’t always drawing. Sometimes he has the best hand. Suppose someone raises from early position with 100-big blind stacks and you call on the button with K -J . The flop comes K -Q -5 . Your opponent bets. Amateurs frequently raise here for the reason they cite as protection. They are concerned about the flush and straight draws. They don’t understand that their opponent is actually going to fold most worse made hands and continue with all better made hands and draws. Your K-J only has 35% equity against a range of sets, two pair, A-A, A-K, K-Q, J-10, and a decent number of flush draws. So, you should be unhappy when your opponent calls your flop raise. Note also that your opponent will usually fold K-10, A-Q, Q-J, Q-10 and all smaller pairs to your raise. These are the exact hands you want to keep in the pot. In fact, if you just call your opponent’s flop continuation bet, K-J has a whopping 62% equity against his entire range, which I assume is most pairs, all Broadway hands and some suited connectors. By raising, you turn a very profitable hand into a big loser. Never make a bet or raise that will cause your opponent to fold all hands you have crushed and continue with hands that crush you. When professionals bet for protection, their hand is usually good but vulnerable against most hands in their opponent’s range. For example, suppose you raise with 6-5 from late position and your opponent calls in the small blind. Your opponent checks to you on a K-7-6 flop. This is a reasonable spot to bet for protection. An opponent with two unpaired overcards has around 27% equity. An ace and an undercard to your pair have around 14% equity. If you make a 2/3-pot continuation bet, your opponent will often fold a hand that has almost enough equity to justify calling. This means you are forcing your opponent off breakeven or slightly profitable hands. Note that if you check behind on the flop, your opponent may bet both the turn and the river, putting you in a tough situation. Also, you never know which turn and river cards are bad for you. As a backup plan, if your opponent has you beat and check-calls your flop bet, you are semi-bluffing, as any 6 or 5 will usually give you the best hand. If your opponent raises your flop bet, you almost certainly have the worst hand or you face a draw that has a lot of equity against you, and you can easily fold. Bet for protection any time you can force your opponent to fold a reasonably wide range of hands with which you do not want him to continue, especially if you 41

cannot withstand much pressure on future streets.

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Information Amateurs also tend to misunderstand the concept of betting for information. They will raise and re-raise the flop with hands such as top pair with a decent kicker, assuming their opponent will call with numerous worse made hands and re-raise with only better hands. This play will occasionally work in the softest games, but the information received is usually inaccurate when it comes from players who are capable of mixing up their play and folding mediocre made hands. Suppose you raise to 3 big blinds from middle position with K-Q. The button calls. The stacks are 150 big blinds. The flop comes K-10-6. You continuation-bet 5 big blinds and your opponent makes it 13 big blinds. It is not wise to re-raise here. If a good opponent calls, you are usually in mediocre to poor shape, facing better made hands and draws. If he re-raises, he could also have a fairly wide range of made hands and draws. An amateur thinks re-raising to around 37 big blinds allows him to bet again if the turn is a safe card, assuming he has the best hand, and can easily fold to a push. These assumptions will frequently be incorrect against competent opponents. You want to figure out how your opponents are going to play, but putting in a decent chunk of your stack is usually not the correct way to do it. You should be able to predict their general game plan for all hands in their range and use their betting actions to determine where you stand. You can usually do this in a manner that doesn’t require you to put in a lot of money with reasonably strong hands which you plan to fold when your opponent continues. Another abuse of this concept is to call on the river so you can see your opponent’s hand. There are much better ways to do this. First off, if you ask nicely and infrequently, you’d be surprised at how many players will show you. A player will sometimes show his hand if you sarcastically say something like, “Nice bluff,” after folding. You can offer to show your hand sometime in the future if he shows his hand now, an offer on which he will often not collect. If you are really curious about your opponent’s hand, it is acceptable to occasionally make a slightly, and I mean very slightly, -EV call if you expect to play this specific opponent enough in the future to warrant paying for the information. You only get relevant information when your opponent shows up with a tiny part of his range, usually either the top or the bottom. For example, say your opponent either has the nuts or is bluffing, but you are unsure how wide his bluffing range is. If you call and he turns over the nuts, you have learned nothing. You should generally not actively look to pay for information. There is way too much free information going around.

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How Much to Bet? I will discuss how much to bet throughout this book, but you should start thinking about it now. You must master the skill of determining how much to bet in each situation. You will make this decision every time you put money in the pot. Your goal when value-betting should be to charge your op ponent as much as possible while keeping him in with a wide range of hands you beat. When you bluff, you want to bet the smallest amount possible to induce your opponent to fold a specific range of hands. When you bet for protection, you should bet an amount that will make your opponent incorrectly fold a substantial portion of his range. When betting for information, you want to bet the smallest amount that will yield nearly perfect information. Just as you need a reason to bet, you need a reason to size a bet in a particular way. The reasons are endless and I will often discuss bet-sizing when I explain my default strategy in upcoming sections.

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Chapter 3 Pre-Flop

I recently asked a slew of amateur poker players what questions they have about poker. Most of the questions were along the lines of, “How do I play J-J? I always get in trouble with J-J.” The answer to this, and all other generic questions, is, “It depends.” I am not going to outline how to play every specific hand, but I will explain my decision-making process so you can develop a strategy that works in every situation. Attempting to memorize a simple strategy that outlines how to play each hand against generic opponents will fail in the long run because you are not playing against generic opponents. More often than not, your opponents’ tendencies, rather than your cards, should be the main determining factor in how you play. I am not going to teach you how to play your cards. I am going to teach you how to play poker.

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How to Generate Reads You must pay attention if you are to figure out your opponents. Most players spend their time at the table watching sports, talking to friends, playing on their phones or napping. You learn how to exploit your opponents by figuring out what they do incorrectly. If you do anything at the poker table besides focus on the action, you are throwing away your equity. Open your eyes and pay attention. You need to watch for specific information to figure out an opponent’s style. Constantly ask yourself the questions below about each of your opponents. You don’t need exact answers. You need to know if your opponent takes a specific action rarely, about an average proportion of the time or almost always. If you play online, your poker-tracking software will answer most of these questions. Learn to use your brain to do this in live poker. The questions below are fairly basic. You can answer more detailed questions and characterize your opponents at a higher level as you develop a better understanding of the game. How often does he raise before the flop? How often does he limp before the flop? How often does he call raises before the flop? How often does he re-raise before the flop? How often does he raise from early position compared to late position? How often does he fold when re-raised? How often does he fold his re-raise to a four-bet? How often does he continuation-bet on the flop? How often does he call continuation bets on the flop? How often does he raise continuation bets on the flop? How often does he bet the turn after betting the flop? How often does he bet the turn when the continuation-bettor checks on the turn? How often does he raise a continuation bet on the turn? How often does he bet the river when the turn checks through? How often does he bet the river when the turn bettor checks? How often does he bet all three streets when checked to? How often does he raise the river? What types of hands does he show up with on the river when there has been significant action? What types of hands does he show up with on the river when there has been little action? Does he tilt? 46

What makes him go on tilt? What does he do incorrectly when he tilts? Does he have any reliable tells? Does he play higher than his bankroll suggests? How does he view me? What can I do to maximize my expected value using the information I know about him? Once you have assessed your opponent’s strategy, you have to determine how to exploit it. For example, if he continuation-bets on every flop, look for ways to bluff him on the flop because his range must be weak, assuming he also raises with a wide range of hands before the flop. As you develop a fundamentally sound strategy, you will be able to easily pinpoint the holes in your opponent’s strategy. Once you know what he does incorrectly, you can attack him.

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Basic Pre-Flop Strategy I will present a pre-flop and post-flop strategy based on 100- to 150-big blind stacks at a nine-handed table. These stack sizes are the typical buy-in at most smalland middle-stakes live cash games around the world. Later we will discuss adjustments in your play for larger or smaller stacks, which can significantly affect your implied odds. Realize first that your initial raising range is not terribly important because most of the action in deep-stacked cash games occurs after the flop. There is usually relatively little three- and four-betting without premium hands. There is, however, a lot of initial raising and calling. This means you must work tirelessly to improve your post-flop game. But you still need a fundamentally sound pre-flop game that keeps you out of situations with high reverse implied odds on subsequent streets. When you are first to act, you should typically make a raise that allows you to easily get your stack in by the river if you make a premium hand. Your initial opening raise should be to around 3 big blinds. Most players open-raise to between 3 and 5 big blinds. If your opponents will frequently give you action even if you raise to 5 big blinds, that raise size becomes ideal because it will allow you to get more value from your strong hands and to bluff your opponent off slightly larger pots when he misses the flop. However, be sure you are not missing action, since your opponents will tend to play tighter when you put in a large raise. When you have a hand such as A-K, it is a disaster when someone folds a hand such as A -4 or K -10 to a 5-big blind raise when he would have called 3 big blinds. Amateurs tend to raise large, hoping to force their opponents out, because they play poorly post-flop and hate getting outdrawn. This causes them to lose tons of value. Few middle- and high-stakes players have this easily-plugged leak. It is much more profitable to let your opponents see flops with a wide range of hands that tend to do poorly against your range, allowing you to extract additional value on future streets. Do not fall into the habit of raising to the same amount as everyone else at your table. The standard opening raise, particularly in small-stakes games, can be 5 big blinds or more. In this case, your opponents are all making huge errors. Notice that if everyone in the game makes the same error, no-one will lose because of it. You should win at a huge rate if you learn to play well after the flop in multiway pots. If a 3-big blind raise frequently gets numerous callers, rejoice because you are in an excellent game. Allowing your opponents to stay in with their junk hands sets them up to be dominated in large pots. In online poker, it used to be considered standard to raise to 3.5 big blinds before the flop. Eventually, a few good players started raising to 2 big blinds and began crushing the games for more than was thought possible. They started winning 48

at a huge rate because they played well post-flop and they induced their opponents to stay in with junk before the flop, which put them in dire straits later in the hand. Most winning players in high-stakes online games now raise to 3 big blinds or less, and typically to 2.5 or 2 big blinds. Do not be afraid to leave your comfort zone and try different raise sizes if you think they will induce your opponents to make errors. Remember, you make money when your opponents make mistakes, not when they play perfectly, which is what they are frequently doing when they fold junk before the flop. There has been talk recently about open-raising larger, to 3 big blinds, from early position, and smaller, to 2.5 or 2 big blinds, from late position with your entire raising range when stacks are 100-big blinds deep. I have seen some success using this strategy online. I have not experimented with it much in live games, mainly because I have been playing in super deep-stacked games. The logic is that you will have a weaker range when you raise from late position and therefore want to play smaller pots. If you get re-raised, you will be getting better implied odds, allowing you to see a flop more often, and when you lose a pot, it will not be too large. When you raise from early position, you will usually have a stronger range, meaning you want to play larger pots. I strongly suggest experimenting with this strategy.

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Pre-Flop Opening Ranges You should constantly change your pre-flop opening ranges based on the players yet to act, but you still need general guidelines for hands to raise from all positions. I will outline my default raising ranges, but remember that they don’t matter too much if you are raising hands that are fairly easy to play after the flop. Novice players should play a tighter range than I suggest. You can play a wider range pre-flop as your post-flop skills improve. Don’t start playing too many hands, or you will start bleeding equity, even if you are a world-class player. From early position, as one of the first two players to act, I tend to play a fairly tight range. I typically raise all pairs, suited Broadway hands, A-K, A-Q, A-J and K-Q. I will sporadically raise strong suited connectors such as 9 -8 , and will occasionally fold weak suited Broadway hands such as K -10 . You can fold small pairs, 6-6 and lower, from early position if you expect your opponents to play well after the flop. There is no harm in folding hands that normally make up the bottom of your default range, especially if you have a bad image or your table is tough.

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Raising hands similar to J -10 and 8 -7 allows you to continuation-bet more profitably on middle-card boards. Notice if you do not raise suited connectors and the flop comes 7-6-5, your observant, aggressive opponents will be able to raise the flop, bet the turn, then blast the river, forcing you off most of your range. Your opponent could also float the flop and raise the turn, putting you in a difficult spot. You want to at least have the capability of having the nuts in those situations, although it won’t happen too often. Similarly, the purpose of raising small pairs is to be able to have the nuts on low-card boards such as 7-5-2. You want these speculative hands in your range, although they often cost you a small amount of equity due to your poor position. But they will make your premium 51

hands more profitable because your opponents will not be able to blindly attack you whenever the flop is bad for the typical early-position raising range. For this reason, you should mix up your play between raising and folding with the marginal hands from early position. From middle position, when I am the third or fourth player to act, I raise all pairs, suited Broadway hands, suited connectors down to 7-6, suited A-x, A-K, AQ, A-J, K-Q and K-J. Similar to the early-position raising range, you should lop off the bottom end of this range when your table is tough or your image is bad.

Raising the suited A-x hands, such as A -9 and A -4 , allows you to make the 52

nut flush when someone else makes a worse flush. Be careful with these hands; you will often have reverse implied odds if you make top pair. You must learn to cheaply determine when your top pair, bad kicker is beat. From the cutoff (the seat to the right of the button) and hijack (the seat to the right of the cutoff), I start to open a much wider range of hands because significantly fewer players remain to act. You should obviously play a few more hands from the cutoff than you do from the hijack because you have better position. I tend to raise all pairs, all Broadway hands, all suited A-x hands, a fair number of suited connectors and suited one-gappers, and occasionally some other reasonable hands, such as J -8 , K -5 , A-9 and 10-9. As in previous positions, you can raise a tighter range if you choose.

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I play few unsuited hands because they usually make one pair with a weak kicker. These are terrible hands post-flop, especially deep-stacked. You can get reasonably far out of line in later positions, raising a much wider range than suggested, if you know the players yet to act are unlikely to play back at you. If your opponents tend to be tight and straightforward, there is nothing wrong with raising as many hands as possible because you will usually have a clear idea of where you stand in later betting rounds. Consider expanding your raising range to include hands such as A-x, reasonable middle cards such as K-9 and 10-8, and various suited hands with potential. You still shouldn’t open with absolute trash, such as 8 -3 and 4 -3 . 54

I tend to open up my default range significantly from the button, but I am quick to alter it based on my opponents’ tendencies. I will raise all pairs, all Broadway hands, all A-x, suited K-x hands, and most suited and unsuited connectors, including both one- and two-gappers.

In late position, especially the button and small blind, the types of players yet to act are instrumental in determining your opening range. You can raise with any two cards if the players in the blinds are overly tight and straightforward. If they will frequently re-raise pre-flop or look to make plays post-flop, you should tighten up and raise a range similar to that of the cutoff. If you are not constantly adjusting to 55

your opponents, they can adjust to whatever you are doing and destroy you. When the action folds to you in the small blind, your strategy can vary wildly based on your opposition. I will detail how to play from the blinds in a later section. In general though, you should raise a fairly wide range from the small blind if the big blind is tight, and raise a tight range if he is loose.

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When Facing Limpers Start to put opponents on ranges of hands as soon as they voluntarily put money in the pot. If you can actively process ranges from the start of each hand, you will make better predictions on later streets, allowing you to make more money. When someone limps in, try to figure out if he is limping with a range of hands he thinks are too weak to raise, premium hands with which he hopes to limp and re-raise, or a wide range that includes both strong and weak hands. You can deduce your opponent’s limping range by noting how often he limps, how aggressively he plays after the flop in those cases, and the hands he shows down. A player who often limps and then folds to aggression on later streets is likely limping with a weak range. If he limps and re-raises often or plays aggressively after the flop, he either has a strong range or is running lots of bluffs. Someone who plays hours without limping and suddenly limps probably has a strong range, hence you should be cautious. Even if you never see your opponent’s cards, you can often determine his general range from his actions. Your standard raise size over a limper should generally be around the size of the pot. As stacks get deeper or shorter, your raise size should be either larger or smaller. To determine the amount of a pot-sized bet, take the last bet, which is one big blind in this case, multiply that by three, then add any additional dead money in the pot, such as the blinds. So, if you are playing $10/$20 and someone limps, a pot-sized raise would be 3x($20) + $30 = $90. If there is one limper, a pot-sized raise will always be 4.5 big blinds, assuming there are no antes. If there is one limper before you whose limping range you think is weak, you should frequently attack his limp with a raise. This will allow you to play a pot in position against a range of hands that will perform poorly post-flop. Fold more often in early position due to the number of players yet to act. Fire on all cylinders in late position. Suppose a weak limper calls from second position and you are in third position. Raise to 4.5 big blinds or so with any pair, Broadway hand, suited A-x or decent suited connector, assuming your table is not wild i.e., it’s unlikely that someone yet to act will play back. Often everyone will fold, or only the limper will call, allowing you to play a pot in position with a hand that will do well against his weak range. At a loose, aggressive table, play a much tighter range that can occasionally stand up to additional aggression. If your opponent limped from the cutoff and you are on the button, you should raise a wide range of hands, such as any pair, any A or K, all Broadway hands, all reasonable suited hands and all reasonably connected offsuit hands containing big or middle cards. If you raise one weak limper who calls, you should continuation-bet around 6 big blinds, or 3/5 pot, on almost every flop, expecting to frequently win the pot with no 57

contest. If your opponent calls, you will have to figure out the strength of his range and proceed from there. Your pre-flop raise and flop continuation bet will often be enough to win the pot. If a player limps only with strong hands, you should tend to limp behind him with hands that flop well, including suited connectors and small pairs, when he limps from early position. Fold hands such as A-10 and K-6 that play poorly after the flop. If the same player is in late position, consider attacking his limp, at least initially, to confirm he has a strong hand. Early-position limpers tend to have either tight or loose ranges, but they are almost always loose in late position. Just because you have seen a guy limp with A-A in early position, do not assume he is only limping with premium hands from all positions. In general, if you know your opponent limps with strong hands, such as A-A, AQ, K-J and A -10 , you should tend to limp behind with your non-premium holdings that have implied odds, hoping to flop a hand that can beat top pair. Your hand obviously needs some potential. Medium offsuit hands do not qualify. Suppose a strong limper enters the pot from middle position and you are on the button. You should tend to raise with hands such as 10-10, A-Q and K -Q for value, limp with hands such as A-10, K-J, A -4 and 6 -5 , and fold holdings such as A-6, K-9 and 10-8. Against an early-position limper, you should probably fold hands with reverse implied odds, such as A-10 and K-J, and play a few more hands with high implied odds, such as 8 -6 and K -4 . If you limp behind this strong limper and he checks to you after the flop, consider trying to win the pot with a bet, assuming not too many players are in the pot. Play straightforwardly if the initial limper bets. Remember that you are playing most of your range because of high implied odds. You will usually lose your limp when you miss, but expect to be paid off when you hit. Always confirm that the strong limper is willing to pay you off. If he isn’t, or if his range is much weaker than you thought, limping behind is much worse than raising. If the limper mixes up his play, showing up with both strong and weak hands, you must figure out how often his hand is weak. Treat him as a limper if his range includes 95% weak hands. Play him like a strong limper if he has a strong hand around half of the time. A few excellent players have added limping to their arsenal of plays with reasonable success. Don’t mess around too often against these players. Remember that you make money from the bad players, not the good ones. The act of limping does not in itself make someone a bad player. Be cognizant of who you are playing against and adjust accordingly. Expect strong players to make good decisions and weak players to make bad ones. Players often open-limp, especially in small- and medium-stakes games, but I strongly oppose it for a few reasons. Getting your stack in with the nuts becomes a huge hassle because the pot is miniscule compared to your stack, and you are likely 58

against weak ranges. If you limp and someone raises, you are forced to either reraise and play a large pot out of position against a likely strong range, or call, again playing out of position, which is rarely a good thing. You let the blinds see a flop for free, which usually is not a good idea because they will always have some equity. Most players are quick to ditch mediocre hands after the flop in limped pots because they feel as if they have nothing invested; if they call a raise, they will tend to lose more. Nevertheless, if a few players at your table will play poorly if you limp, you can consider adding it to your game. Limping makes sense in two situations. You want to see the flop as cheaply as possible with a speculative hand in early position. This makes limping a reasonable option with hands such as 4-4, 6 -5 and A -4 . However, limping with these hands removes them from your raising range, which means you won’t be able to continuation-bet middle- and low-card boards. You can adjust by adding AA and K-K to your limping range, but then you will be playing small, multiway pots with premium pairs, which is also not ideal. You could mix it up, sometimes limping and sometimes raising, but I think this is fancy-play syndrome. You generally want your ranges as balanced as possible, especially before and on the flop, because those betting rounds take place almost every hand. If your opponents are not observant and will not attack your limps, you can experiment and see what happens. Raising your entire range from early position is a much better play at middle- and high-stakes games. Consider open-limping from late position when the players yet to act tend to reraise but will play passively if you limp. These players aren’t common, but they do exist. They usually come from the online world and do not know how to attack limpers who play well. Limp against them with hands you want to see a flop with, such as K -7 and 9 -7 . These hands are not quite good enough to call a 10-big blind re-raise, but can call a 5-big blind raise. Recognize this rare situation and adjust accordingly. When multiple players limp before the action gets to you, consider the initial limper’s strategy when determining whether to raise with a wide range as a bluff or to call and try to make a good hand. Someone who limps behind a limper almost always has a marginal or speculative hand because most players raise with their strong hands. As when there was only one limper, if the initial limper tends to have a weak range, you can make a pot-sized raise, which is now 4.5 big blinds plus one additional big blind for each limper beyond the first, and expect to either win the pot immediately or on the flop with a standard continuation bet. If you raise and multiple players call, play more straightforwardly post-flop because one of those players is likely to have a hand, meaning a continuation-bet bluff will often fail. Again, to determine the amount of a pot-sized raise, you raise to three times the last bet, which is currently 1 big blind, plus the amount of dead money in the pot. 59

So, if four players limp at $2/$4 before the action gets to you, a pot- sized raise will be $4(3) + $4(3) + $6 = $30. Typically, at most one player will call your potsized raise. If they all fold, then you win the pot with no contest. A single caller will assume you have a strong hand, and will therefore tend to play straightforwardly post-flop. You stand to win a lot of money if your opponents assume you have a strong hand when in reality your range is wide. If the first limper tends to play strong hands, you should limp behind with hands that have good implied odds. As more players limp in, you can limp with a wide range of hands with potential, especially from late position. Hands as weak as K -2 and 10 -8 become playable in late position. Your goal is to either flop a hand with which you can be happy to put a lot of money in the pot, such as two pair, or to steal the pot when your opponents miss the flop. But be careful. As more players see a cheap flop, your weak draws, especially bad straight and flush draws, often have huge reverse implied odds because someone else has a significantly better draw. If you limp with a wide range, you will bleed equity if you play your hand for only its implied odds value. Instead, you want to win both when you have the best hand and when everyone else has nothing. Suppose four players limp in and the action is on you on the button with 9 -8 . The initial limper usually plays reasonably strong hands. It’s acceptable here to limp in and try to flop well. The small blind calls and the big blind checks. The flop comes 10 -6 -3 . Everyone checks to you. This is an excellent spot to take a stab at the pot, betting around 5 big blinds into the 7-big blind pot. If one player calls, bet again on the turn when an overcard or a 7 comes. If you are confident the caller has a hand worse than top pair, you should probably continue betting on any turn besides a 10, 6 or 3 if you think he will release his hand. If you bet the flop and multiple players call, you should proba bly give up unless you hit your straight.

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When Facing a Raise When a player in an earlier position raises and you have a hand you want to play, you can either call or re-raise. While you often want to re-raise for value and protection with your strongest hands, you must make a point of playing pots with weak players. Say a good player raises from middle position and you have A-J on the button. If the players in the blinds are bad, you should call to entice them to enter the pot, but if they are good, you should re-raise to force them out, electing to play your hand in position in a re-raised pot. You should do the same if the initial middle-position raiser is a weak player. You want to do everything possible to play pots with weak players and avoid good players. Online players tend to re-raise with most playable hands, whereas live players most often just call. Online, where you only have your opponents’ statistics to help guide you, re-raising is probably ideal. However, in the live arena, where you have “statistics” (your reads rather than actual stats) and tells and the players tend to be significantly weaker, calling becomes more palatable. The biggest live games, especially those with mostly good players, tend to be filled with constant three- and four-betting wars because everyone plays well. When everyone is good, you gain an edge by being more aggressive than everyone else. When players have huge flaws in their strategy, you make money by exploiting those flaws. You want to see as many flops as possible against those who play poorly after the flop. You should generally aim to have a polarized three-betting range. A range is considered polarized when it is made up of strong hands you don’t mind playing for a lot of money, and also hands that are effectively bluffs. An example would be big pairs, A-K, A-Q and a mix of occasional bluffs made with hands that are too weak to call, such as marginal suited one-gappers, small pairs, suited A-x hands and suited K-x hands.

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You can call with numerous decent hands in this re-raising range, namely nonpremium big cards, suited connectors and middle pairs. This will allow you to call with a reasonably strong range and re-raise in an unpredictable manner. You do not want to only show up with premium hands when you re-raise because your opponents will be able to easily put you on a range of strong hands. Notice that your calling range below consists of the strong hands you are not re-raising.

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Compare the polarized range to an unpolarized range, with which most amateurs re-raise. An unpolarized range is not ideal because the hands in the re-raising range are all strong and the calling hands are all weak. This makes players with unpolarized ranges fairly easy to play against, especially after the flop.

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Notice the re-raising range is made up of hands most players define as “good”, while the calling range consists of much weaker hands.

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You almost always want to have a polarized re-raising range unless you know your opponents are so bad as to frequently call a re-raise with hands such as A-5 and K-8, in which case you should re-raise hands such as A-10 and K-J for value. Note that both the polarized and unpolarized ranges are made up of similar hands. The difference is in how the marginal hands are played. You usually want to get to showdown with a marginal hand, which is difficult when you re-raise pre-flop. As always, your opponents’ tendencies directly determine how many and which types of hands you should re-raise. There tend to be four primary pre-flop player types. There are players who raise a tight range then play poorly post-flop, players who raise a loose range then play 65

poorly post-flop, players who raise a tight range then play well post-flop and players who raise a loose range then play well post-flop. Also, note how often each player folds to a re-raise. To maximize your win rate, you must determine who you are against and adjust accordingly. Both your position and that of your opponent are important. Your playable range should vary wildly depending on the position from which your opponent raises. When your opponent’s range is particularly strong, usually when he is in early position, your range should consist of strong hands that do well against even a tight range, such as A-K and 10-10, and hands that have large implied odds against strong hands, such as 8 -7 and 2-2. Facing an early-position raise, you should almost always fold hands similar to A-3 and K-10, regardless of position. You can re-raise or call a late-position raise with a wide range, depending on how you expect your opponent to proceed post-flop. You generally want to call an early-position raise with hands that have large implied odds against players who raise a tight range and play poorly post-flop, because you will often face a premium range. Almost always fold hands such as A10 and K-J. In early position, you may vary between calling or folding hands such as A-J and J -9 , based on the players yet to act. You can call with a wide range of speculative hands if the players behind you tend to call with a wide range. Play tightly if they tend to re-raise, because the re-raise will often be so large that you won’t be able to continue. You should generally re-raise with A-A or K-K, with the intention of getting all-in. It is a disaster to have A-A against your opponent’s A-K or Q-Q and allow him to get off the hook when he sees a scary flop. I do not suggest re-raising with hands such as J-J and A-K because if your opponent calls, your hand is probably only slightly ahead of his calling range and you will often force dominated hands to fold, which is not the result you want. If you only re-raise with A-A and K-K against early position raisers, you open yourself to exploitation because your opponents will know your exact hand. But it doesn’t matter much because you are facing a weak player. Never re-raise before the flop if a good opponent raises from first position, assuming his range contains only premium holdings. While this will sometimes lead to nasty spots with A-A after the flop, it is well worth it to disguise your range and induce bluffs from the pre-flop raiser as well as players yet to act. If the tight, bad player raises from middle or late position, consider calling less often and isolating him by re-raising with a wider range. Never re-raise if your opponent is a super nit, only raising the most premium hands, unless you are prepared for a four-bet or have a solid plan for continuing post-flop if he calls. Most weak-tight players raise with a fairly tight range, call your re-raise, then check-fold to your continuation bet after the flop when they miss. This is similar to when you raised a weak limper except the pot is larger now and your opponent’s range is usually stronger and better defined. Remember, if the players yet to act are 66

overly weak, you should call more often to keep them in and if they are strong players, you should re-raise more often to force them out. Suppose a tight player who plays poorly post-flop raises to $20 out of his $750 stack from the hijack at $2/$5. You are on the button with J-J, 6-6, A -4 , Q -J or 10 -7 . With all of these hands, you should mix up your play by sometimes calling and sometimes re-raising. If the players in the blinds are not good, you should call with all of them around 80% of the time and re-raise the other 20% of the time. If the blinds are good, you should re-raise around 80% of the time and call the other 20% of the time. Note that these numbers are only rough estimates. Consider how the initial raiser will react to your re-raise. You can re-raise with an overly wide range if he will almost always fold. However, most bad players will call and see a flop. Your re-raise size should usually be a little less than the size of the pot. Since a pot size re-raise would be (3)($20) + $7 = $67, you should probably re-raise to around $60. A pot-size re-raise is not necessary because you don’t mind if your opponent calls, and the pot will grow so you can easily get your stack in by the river if you want. If you expect the initial raiser to call most of the time, you should have a solid plan for proceeding after the flop. Most of the time, you will simply continuation-bet around 1/2-pot and hope to win with no contest. Facing an early-position raise against players who raise a loose range and play poorly post-flop, try to play hands that can make strong top pairs and those with implied odds. Hands such as A-J and K-Q go way up in value against an opponent who raises from most positions with hands such as K-10 and J-9. When a loose player raises, even from early position, it’s difficult to narrow his wide range. In that case, you have to play hands that do well against a wide range. You should tend to re-raise an early-position raise from a loose, bad player with hands that often make top pair. It’s better to play heads-up in position with a hand like K-J than to play a multiway pot out of position, which will often happen if you call. Calling is ideal with hands that do well in multiway pots, such as 8 -7 and A -4 , because most of your value will come from making the nuts in a multiway pot after the flop. If the loose, bad player raises from middle or late position, your calling and reraising ranges should depend on how both the initial raiser and players yet to act will react to a re-raise. If the initial raiser will probably four-bet or fold, your hand’s post-flop playability isn’t too important because you will rarely see a flop. Hands such as A -3 and K -8 become reasonable candidates because they have a blocker. Loose players tend to call re-raises, so your hand should have some post-flop value. As a default, you should re-raise this player type with premium hands, strong Broadway hands and a mix of marginal hands with potential, such as K -5 , J -8 , and 7 -5 . Your calling range should be made up of hands that can take a flop, such as Q-J and 9 -8 , although you can certainly re-raise those hands as well. Calling is ideal if the players yet to act are weak. Conversely, you should 67

re-raise most of your range if they are strong. Don’t try to see a cheap flop with hands such as A -8 , K -7 and 7 -4 . You can often bluff with them when you expect your opponent to either four-bet or fold, but these cards will rarely flop a powerful hand. When deep-stacked, it is important to have at least a little potential when you may see the flop with minimal fold equity. However, if you will almost always win the pot pre-flop or with a continuation bet on the flop, your cards don’t matter much because you will rarely see a showdown. Especially against weak players, who tend to employ a wide range of sub optimal strategies, you must constantly tailor your calling and re-raising range to each opponent. Figure out what you want to happen in a hand, and take actions to make it happen. Re-raise with a wide range if you can bully your opponent. If he never folds to pre-flop re-raises and fights back on most flops, you should re-raise only with premium hands and a few others with implied odds. If he constantly fourbets, you should three-bet premium hands with which you don’t mind getting all-in, plus a few bluffs. You can’t set a default strategy because each player has unique tendencies and ranges that require specific adjustments. Play mostly hands with large implied odds against an early-position raise from a tight opponent who plays well after the flop. Rarely re-raise with marginal holdings unless you think your opponent will assume you also have a premium range, allowing you to bluff post-flop. Avoid hands such as A-10 and K-J, as they are usually dominated. You can often call with hands such as 9 -8 and 3-3 due to their high implied odds. You should probably just call with strong hands such as A-K and J-J to avoid getting four-bet and turning your hand face up. Tend to do the same with A-A and K-K to disguise your range, although there is nothing wrong with reraising. Suppose a good, tight player raises from early position and the action folds to you on the button. Fold hands such as A -J , K -10 and Q -J . Call with hands such as 2-2, A -5 and 9 -7 if you think your opponent will pay you off when you hit. The best opponents do not pay off all the time, giving you an opportunity to bluff. But don’t go out of your way to run big bluffs against strong players. If a good, tight player raises from middle or late position, you should play a similar range as before. Avoid reverse implied odds with hands such as Q-J, although A-J and K-Q become more playable. You will tend to have lower implied odds with small pairs and suited connectors because the initial raiser’s range will be a bit weaker compared to his early-position range. There is some debate as to whether you should re-raise or call in late position against this player type. Reraising is probably ideal if you are confident your opponent will play straightforwardly. Calling is likely better if you think he will make your post-flop decisions difficult by mixing it up if you re-raise. Consider the players yet to act when making your decision. You don’t want to play too many hands against this 68

player type, especially marginal hands. This is not where your profit comes from. Re-raise with a wide range against players who are loose and play well postflop, forcing them to play large pots out of position. Your opponent will have a difficult time defending his weak range against re-raises. The best players will adjust by either four-betting often or tightening their pre-flop open-raising ranges. If your opponent starts four-betting frequently, get ready to five-bet, usually all-in based on stack sizes, with a wide range because your opponent’s four-betting range will be similar to his opening range, i.e., very wide. If a player tightens up to constant re-raising, treat him like a good, tight player once he adjusts. Re-raise this player type instead of calling because they will play well after the flop, even out of position. You must take your opponent out of his comfort zone to get an edge. There is almost no way to profitably play a wide range after the flop, out of position in a re-raised pot. Re-raising frequently forces your opponent to play a high-stakes game of chicken. Obviously you don’t want to fight fire with fire because that drives variance through the roof, but that’s what you should do against this player type, especially if the players yet to act are good. If the players yet to act are bad, you should adjust by calling instead of re-raising, to get some dead money in the pot. Suppose the good, loose player raises from early position and you have A-K, QJ, A -4 , 6 -5 or 3-3 in late position. You should tend to re-raise or fold with all of these hands if the players yet to act are good. If those players are weak, consider calling with all these hands except Q-J, which you should still re-raise or fold. If you call and see a heads-up flop, you should frequently make plays after the flop because your opponent’s range is so wide that it misses most flops. When you call a pre-flop raise with a mediocre hand in position, look to steal the pot whenever you can. You should probably re-raise all these hands if the good, loose player raises from late position, although you can still just call. Mix up your play so it’s difficult to play against you. Never play predictably against a strong opponent. As always, figure out what you want to happen and take actions to make it so.

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When Facing a Raise and a Caller With a raise and a caller before the action gets to you, your strategy should depend on your image and the ranges of the raiser and caller. If you have a wild image and are willing to fight back, then consider re-raising with strong hands and calling with strong, big cards and hands with implied odds. If opponents know you are bluffing often and they’re too tight and scared to do something about it, you can reraise a wide range of hands. You can do the same if they will fold reasonably strong hands because you have played tight recently. Call with hands that flop well, such as A -5 , J -10 and 2-2. Re-raise hands such as A-K, K -8 and 9 -6 . If the initial raiser and the caller both take those actions with a wide range of hands, you can make a pot-size re-raise with a wide range, expecting to either win the pot immediately or with a continuation bet if your opponents miss the flop. This play will bring in a decent amount of your profit because most players assume a reraise indicates a premium hand. Assume the initial raiser’s range is weaker if he opens from late position, in which case you can re-raise more liberally. Don’t get too far out of line with these loose re-raises. Your opponents will eventually realize what you are doing and will play back at you with a disguised range. If you think the initial raiser is opening with a tight range, which is usually the case in low-stakes games, you should be much more willing to call and see a flop with hands that have large implied odds. While you would normally re-raise a loose opponent with hands similar to 8 -6 , you can justify calling in multiway pots with these hands, looking to either flop the nuts or represent it after the flop on scary boards. You can re-raise premium hands for value, but be careful if you think the raiser’s range consists mostly of strong hands. You will occasionally encounter a caller who habitually calls pre-flop raises with strong hands and is either scared or is looking to four-bet against a wild person’s re-raise. This type of player usually has a hand such as A-K or Q-Q and doesn’t want to get all-in. They tend not to fold after the flop. Even if the initial raiser is loose, it’s usually unwise to bluff against these players. As more players call an initial raise, you can re-raise with a wider range as a bluff because most of them will have weak ranges, since they would have re-raised with strong hands. Consider calling with a wider range of hands with implied odds, and three-betting with your strongest hands and those that aren’t quite good enough to warrant a call. Again, a slightly less than pot-sized re-raise is probably ideal to give you decent fold equity. If you take a flop heads-up, you should continuation-bet with almost your entire range. Play more straightforwardly if you get multiple callers. For example, suppose a loose player raises 3 big blinds from second position and three loose, passive players call. You are on the button with K-K, A -4 , K -5 or 9 -8 . You can comfortably re-raise all of these hands. A pot-sized re-raise 70

would be 3(3) + 9 + 1.5 = 19.5 big blinds, so re-raise to about 17 big blinds. This re-raise may seem a bit large, but it is less than the size of the pot. Suppose only the initial raiser calls. Continuation-bet around 18 big blinds on any flop. This will set you up to push the turn if you desire. You will risk only about 35% of your stack to make your opponent feel that he’s risking his entire stack, assuming 100-big blind stacks. This is a strong play that will usually work if used sparingly.

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When You get Three-Bet When you raise and get three-bet, try to figure out how wide the three-bettor’s range is. If he re-raises often, you should be very willing to fight back. Be much more cautious if he is tight. You must know how passively your opponent normally plays. Your position is also important because most players will re-raise lateposition raisers much more often than they re-reraise early-position raisers. To develop an optimal strategy, it is best to think about how to play against each of the four player types. There is little re-raising in small- and middle-stakes games. This is because players tend not to bluff with marginal hands. It’s simple to deal with opponents who are re-raising only with premium hands. Re-raise with the most premium hands, namely A-A and K-K; call with hands that are probably good or have large implied odds, such as A-K, J-J, 6-6, K -J and 9 -8 , assuming the re-raise is not too large; and fold everything else. Note that such a straightforward strategy will not show a significant profit against opponents who are capable of mixing up their games. Continue against a re-raise from a TP only when you have a premium hand or you are getting the proper implied odds to continue. Most TPs only re-raise with hands such as big pairs, A-K and A-Q. You usually have amazing implied odds against these players because they are unable to fold an overpair after the flop. You should usually fold hands such as A-J, K-Q and A -5 because they do poorly against the TP’s range. Play similarly when an LP three-bets, as LPs and TPs play their strong hands in a similar manner. Suppose you are playing 100-big blinds deep and you raise from early position with 9 -8 . A TP or LP re-raises to 9 big blinds from the button. You have to put in 6 more big blinds to try to win 13.5 immediately. You can expect to win an additional 35 big blinds due to implied odds on later streets if you flop well. You can also win a small pot from time to time when your opponent misses with A-K or A-Q and gives up. While you are getting nearly a break-even price to call, you should probably gamble a bit and try to flop well, especially if you know you can steal the pot when your opponent misses and gives up. You should certainly call if you are deeper-stacked, and fold if you are shallower. You should also be more inclined to call if you are in position. As an aside, you usually want to be in position when you call re-raises with suited connectors, but position is less important with small pairs. You may flop a draw with a suited connector, and draws need position to maximize their equity. With a small pair, you will know on the flop if you have a premium hand or not. Strong made hands usually do not need position to get maximum value if your opponent has a strong range and the pot is already large. Against TAGs, you must figure out if they are mostly re-raising with value hands 72

or bluffs. This will usually depend on your image, although some TAGs are unaware of table dynamics. If a TAG thinks you are raising a wide range of hands, he will likely attempt to bluff you from time to time, meaning his three-betting range will be at least somewhat weak. This should lead you to four-bet with your marginal hands and trap with premium hands. If his range is mostly value hands, you should play against a TAG as you do against a TP or LP, because their reraising ranges are similar. Suppose you raise to 3 big blinds out of your 150-big blind stack from middle position and a TAG re-raises to 9 big blinds from the big blind. You have been fairly active but not out of line. You imagine his three-betting range is made up of premium hands, strong big cards and a few drawing hands. You should probably reraise with a premium hand such as Q-Q or A-K and be content if you get all-in preflop unless you are sure he will only get in with better hands, in which case you should call and take a flop. Call with decently strong value hands such as A-J or KQ and take a flop with the intention of playing intelligently after that. This means you will occasionally fold top pair when you are clearly beaten and you will bluff on boards that are bad for your opponent’s range. Call and try to flop well with strong drawing hands such as J -10 , 8 -7 and 3-3. You should usually fold marginal hands such as A -4 , Q -10 , K -5 , 9 -5 ,and 9 -8 , while occasionally four-betting to around 23 big blinds, depending on your opponent’s bluffing, calling and five-betting frequencies. My suggested four-betting range is fairly polarized, making you difficult to play against, and your calling range consists of hands with potential. This will usually lead to simple decisions on the current street and profitable situations on later streets. Against LAGs, you must constantly assess how wide they are likely re-raising. The best LAGs mix up their play nicely, re-raising widely when you expect them to be tight and re-raising tightly when you expect them to be wide. You have two reasonable options if a LAG on your left is frequently re-raising you. You can tighten up your initial raising range, allowing you to continue more often when three-bet, or you can start four-betting with a wide range. Make this adjustment based on how your opponent deals with four-bets. If you have no legitimate reads on him and you are unsure when he will vary his game, you must calculate how often he is three-betting you and players who play similarly in order to determine how to profitably adjust. Note that calling a LAG’s three-bets with a wide range, especially when out of position, will almost always cost you a lot of money. Amateur players often call a loose player’s re-raise out of position with hands such as A -5 and K -J , only to check-fold the flop when they miss, which is most of the time. Calling the preflop re-raise is exactly what the LAG wants them to do. If you are going to call reraises pre-flop, you must be very willing to make wild adjustments post-flop, looking to steal the pot every time your opponent misses. While this strategy may be 73

somewhat profitable, it will lead to enormous variance because you will be playing large pots out of position with a wide range. It’s much better to tighten up pre-flop or four-bet with some bluffs. You often lack implied odds when you call a LAG’s re-raise with even a reasonable range of hands that flop well. TPs, LPs and TAGs typically re-raise with a tight range, meaning they will likely pay you off when you connect, but LAGs will usually only lose a few continuation bets. This, again, should lead you to either folding or four-betting most hands.

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When to Four-Bet As with three-betting, your four-betting range depends on your opponent’s tendencies. If you are only four-betting A-A and K-K in reasonably tough games, you are almost certainly leaving money on the table. If a player three-bets only with premium hands, you should only four-bet with hands that do well against his premium range. Such a player is usually incapable of folding such hands. For example, say you raise A-A or K-K from any position and you’re re-raised by a bad TAG, TP or LP who rarely does this. You should almost always four-bet for value because your opponent will usually be unable to fold. Your opponent may call with a hand such as J-J or A-K and attempt to play post-flop instead of fivebetting, but that is an acceptable result. Call three-bets from these players with hands such as J-J and A-K because you will not be able to profitably get all-in with them unless you know your opponent will get all-in with worse hands, such as 1010 and A-Q. As always, you should spend time with a poker-equity calculator away from the table and see how various hands do against tight ranges before the flop. If you are only four-betting A-A and K-K, your opponent should call when getting the proper implied odds to outdraw you, and otherwise fold. However, assuming your opponents are bad, which they will likely be at small-stakes games filled with TAGs, TPs and LPs, you do not need to balance your play by fourbetting with some bluffs. If your opponents often fold when you four-bet, you should open up your four-betting range significantly. However, they will usually be playing their cards in a face-up manner. They will generally go all the way with any hand they deem “good”. Four-bet with a much wider range against LAGs and other players who frequently three-bet, assuming your opponents are capable of folding to four-bets. Some players fold to almost all four-bets unless they have a premium hand. Others rarely fold. Four-bet with a wide range if your opponent will frequently fold. If he rarely folds, then four-bet with a range that does well against his calling range. You can also just call your opponent’s three-bet. Your decision to call or four-bet should depend on your opponent’s post-flop tendencies as well as your hand’s playability. Suppose you raise to 3 big blinds out of your 150-big blind stack from middle position and a LAG three-bets to 8 big blinds from the button. Regardless of your hand, you should usually fold or four-bet to around 20 big blinds, unless you know your opponent will play poorly post-flop if you call the three-bet. While your opponent will be getting excellent odds to call, some weaker LAGs will either five-bet or fold. Your hand is particularly irrelevant against these players because you will rarely see a flop. A-x and K-x hands are prime bluffing candidates because they have blockers, making it less likely for your opponent to have a 75

premium hand. Other LAGs will call and play fairly straightforwardly after the flop. Four-bet against these players when you have hands with at least some postflop potential. Hands such as A -10 , 8 -6 and 2-2 are all excellent choices. You should obviously four-bet all your premium hands as well. The whole purpose of four-betting with a wide range is to exploit your opponent who is threebetting too often, and also to allow you to get paid off frequently when you have a strong hand. You’ll leave a lot of money on the table if you get tricky and only fourbet with bluffs, electing to slow-play your premium hands.

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When You get Four-Bet When an opponent re-raises your three-bet, try to figure out if his four-betting range consists only of premium hands or if it’s polarized between value-bets and bluffs. You also must determine if he will fold or go all-in if you five-bet. You need to figure out which hands he thinks are “good”. For example, some TPs are happy to get all-in with A-Q or 10-10, whereas others will only do so with A-A. Once you determine your opponent’s four-betting range, you can decide if you want to call, fold or get all-in. Weak opponents usually make large four-bets. This should induce you to fold or re-raise, usually all-in, due to the lack of immediate and implied odds. Suppose you are playing with 150-big blind stacks and a TP raises to 3 big blinds from middle position. You re-raise to 8 big blinds and the TP four- bets to 28 big blinds. Given your fairly poor immediate and implied pot odds, calling is not a palatable option. You should generally only call these players with hands that crush their range, namely A-A and K-K, assuming you know they will fold if you five-bet. There is usually little value in bluffing this player type because they usually never fold their strong hands. If you find a TP, LP or TAG who four-bets hands such as A-Q and then folds to a five-bet, assuming he must be beat, you should frequently five-bet as long as he continues to give you credit for a better hand. If you think your opponent is four-betting with only A-A and K-K, you should get in with A-A. If he is fourbetting 9-9 and A-Q with the intention of getting all-in, you should probably go allin with A-A, K-K, Q-Q, J-J and A-K. Four-bets from LAGs and good TAGs tend to be on the smaller side. This allows you to call or make a small-five-bet either with the intention of getting all-in or folding. Suppose a LAG with 150 big blinds raises from middle position to 3 big blinds, you three-bet to 8 big blinds from the button and the LAG four-bets to 22 big blinds, which is fairly typical sizing, especially in high-stakes games. Notice you are getting around 2.5:1 to call. You are also getting at least some implied odds because you will almost always face a continuation bet on the flop. If you think your opponent will usually continuation-bet the flop and then play straightforwardly, you can call pre-flop and on the flop with the intention of stealing the pot on a later street. If you know your opponent frequently fires his whole stack in by the river every time he four-bets, you can try to flop at least a reasonable one-pair hand and call down. If you elect to call, you need to have a clear idea of where your profit will come from later in the hand.

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When to Five-Bet Before we discuss five-betting, realize that players who win five-betting wars tend to show up with premium hands when all the money goes in. However, you will never get action against competent opponents if you only re-raise with premium hands. While you have to get a little out of line to get action, you certainly do not have to play wildly all the time. If you are constantly out of line, your chips will constantly move in the wrong direction. Against players who only four-bet with a premium range, which will be most of the players you encounter, you should only five-bet with the most premium hands. Q-Q and A-K become marginal when facing a four-bet from a tight four-bettor. If you are unsure how to proceed when four-bet with these hands, it is usually best to not three-bet them in the first place. Remember, there is no set guideline that says you must play “premium” hands in an overly aggressive manner. This is one of the main situations in which amateur players make huge blunders. They have a hand that is high on the hand-ranking chart and assume they must go all-in with it every time. The problem is that your Q-Q or A-K is in awful shape if your opponent only four-bets with A-A and K-K. So you should fold instead. Suppose a LP with 120 big blinds raises to 3 big blinds from early position and you have A-K on the button. You can either call, keeping your opponent in with his entire range, or three-bet to get value from worse hands. Both are solid options. Suppose you re-raise to 8 big blinds and your opponent four-bets to 28 big blinds. He will never fold to a five-bet if he holds A-A or K-K. He may or may not fold with Q-Q, J-J, 10-10 or A-K. This means your small or all-in five-bet will put you up against a range of hands with somewhere between 70% and 60% equity against your A-K. These ranges also do pretty well against Q-Q and J-J. Hence, against players who only four-bet with a premium range, you have a fairly easy fold with most non-nut hands. Realize that after your opponents see you three-bet and then fold to a four-bet a few times, they will start four-betting you with a wider range. Their new, aggressive range may be made up of only premium and strong hands, such as A-J and K-Q, in which case you will be making a huge error if you constantly fold J-J to their four-bets. Once you start to suspect your opponents are four-betting more than the most premium hands, you must adjust and consider either calling or fivebetting when they four-bet, especially with your good, but not amazing hands. If you have A-K and you think your opponent would four-bet with hands other than A-A and K-K in the situation above, consider either calling and hoping to flop well, or five-betting all-in. If you call, you will tend to win or lose a small pot, depending on whether you hit or miss. This means you will only win around 33% of the time. This is not good. If you five-bet and get all-in, you may or may not be crushed, but you will rarely get it in as the favorite. Because of the numerous bad 78

outcomes for you, even with a hand as strong as A-K, it is never bad to simply call the initial pre-flop raise and see a cheap flop against a tight raiser. You must significantly alter your strategy against someone who is capable of four-betting with a wide range, which will usually be LAGs and good TAGs. Calling becomes a reasonable option, since they tend to four-bet smaller than weak four-bettors. You can also five-bet small, both for value and as a bluff. You may occasionally stack off by playing a LAG pre-flop game, but you will become very difficult to play against because your opponent’s stack will be constantly at risk. This will allow you to win many more small pots than usual. You will also get maximum value whenever you have a premium hand. Suppose you’re playing a LAG with a wide four-betting range. The stacks are 150 big blinds. The LAG raises to 3 big blinds from middle position and you threebet to 8 big blinds, also from middle position. The LAG then four-bets to 22 big blinds. You are getting reasonable odds to call, but you can also five-bet to around 42 big blinds. You are giving yourself an excellent price on a bluff, and you force your opponent to call out of position in a bloated pot or to go all-in. Against what is likely a wide four-betting range, it is an excellent play to put in a small re-raise to force your opponent to risk his entire stack. You must be certain that your opponent actually has a wide four-betting range. Five-betting with a wide range is a huge error if he raises and three-bets a wide range but four-bets tightly. If you think your opponent will often call your five-bet, be sure your hand has some post-flop playability. You should tend to make this play when you have blockers if your opponent will either push or fold. That being said, don’t bluff too often in this situation, because it costs a lot when you fail. In particular, don’t turn hands such as A-Q into a bluff, which is what happens when you five-bet and fold to a six-bet. If you’re five-betting hands such as 10-10 and A-Q only to fold them to a push, you are not playing them correctly. It’s much better to see a cheap flop with hands of value. You don’t have to get all-in against all player types with a hand that’s normally considered strong. It is often best to just call your opponent’s pre-flop raise or re-raise instead of piling in the money.

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When You get Five-Bet If you don’t have A-A or K-K, you should almost always fold to a five-bet unless you are certain your opponent is capable of five-betting with a wide range. Since most players only five-bet with A-A, K-K and Q-Q, you are rarely getting the proper implied odds to call. If the stacks are super-deep, feel free to try to flop a hand that can beat those premium holdings. Say you know your opponent is willing to five-bet bluff from time to time. If you have some fold equity because his five-bet was not all-in, you can push with a range of hands that do well when called. This will consist mostly of premium hands and the occasional suited connectors. However, if you find yourself all-in with 9 -8 for 150 big blinds one or twice per session, you are probably playing way too aggressively.

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Leveling-War Math Suppose a LAG with 150 big blinds raises to 3 big blinds from middle position and you re-raise to 8 big blinds from the button. Each of you knows the other is capable of playing an aggressive game. Your opponent four-bets to 22 big blinds. Calling with hands such as A-Q, K -Q , 8 -7 and 5-5 is perfectly acceptable due to their post-flop playability. Your five-betting range should depend on your assessment of your opponent’s four- and six-betting ranges. In this example, you think your opponent will six-bet all-in with a range of A-A, K-K, Q-Q, J-J, A-K and A-Q, which is 4.2% of hands, plus an additional 2.2% of hands consisting of suited connectors and one-gappers. This range is made up of 66% value hands and 33% bluffs, meaning he is somewhat balanced. If you are confident that this is his range, you have the pot odds to profitably call off with an overly wide range. Notice that once you five-bet to 40 big blinds and your opponent pushes, you have to call 110 big blinds to win a pot of 190 big blinds. This means you need to win 37% of the time to break even. Given your opponent’s wide six-betting range, you should call off with 2-2+, A-7+, A -2 +, K-9+, K -2 +, Q-10, Q -7 +, J-10, J -8 and 10 -9 . Your optimal calling range is quite wide. Most players don’t call off nearly enough. However, most opponents also will not six-bet such a wide range, both for value and as a bluff. This type of scenario occurs quite often in super wild online games. Live poker tends to be much tamer. Notice what happens if your opponent instead six-bets all-in with A-A, K-K, QQ, and A-K, which is 2.5% of hands, plus a few suited connectors for an additional 1% of hands. You again need to win 37% of the time to break even. You should now call off with 2-2+, A-K, A -2 +, K -10 +, J -9 + and 10 -9 . Even if your opponent is rarely bluffing and his six-betting range consists mostly of premium hands, you still have to call off fairly wide. Notice that most of your calling range is suited. The small bump in equity over unsuited hands is often the difference between a call and a fold in all-in situations. Most small-and mid-stakes players are standard TPs, LPs or TAGs who only five- or six-bet all-in with A-A, K-K, Q-Q and A-K. You can only call off against them with A-A, K-K, Q-Q and A-K if you need to win 37% of the time to break even. Even when you’re getting good odds, calling with anything but the most premium hands will usually be a mistake if your opponent’s range consists of premium hands and no bluffs. You’ll have to call even tighter if your opponent is the type who makes large bets, cutting down on your pot odds. If you need to win 42% of the time to break even, you can only call off with A-A and K-K. The upshot is that you must know what your opponent is capable of in order to make the optimal play. You can get in with a very wide range against some players, and only with A-A or K-K against others. Poker is a hugely profitable game because it is difficult. If you can navigate these tough situations better than your 81

opponents, you will demolish the games in the long run. You must also have a firm grasp of how much fold equity you can expect in a leveling war. Suppose a TAG raises to 3 big blinds from his 150-big blind stack and you re-raise to 8 big blinds on the button. The TAG re-raises to 22 big blinds. Unless you can profitably call, your options are to re-raise or fold. Suppose you estimate your opponent’s four-betting range to be A-A, K-K, Q-Q, J-J, 10-10, A-K and A-Q, but he will only six-bet all-in with A-A, K-K and Q-Q. He will snugly fold the other hands, assuming you must have A-A or K-K. If you five-bet to 40 big blinds, you will be risking 32 additional big blinds to win 31.5 big blinds. This means you will profit if your opponent folds more than half the time. Since A-A, KK and Q-Q make up only 29% of the four-betting range, you will win the pot 71% of the time when you five-bet, showing a nice profit. Notice that A-A, K-K and QQ account for 18 of the 62 combinations of hands in his four-betting range. If your opponent will make the mistake of folding too often, you can five-bet with literally any two cards because of your high fold equity. Some players will call your five-bet with a range of Q-Q, J-J, 10-10 and A-K, hoping to see a safe flop before committing the rest of their stack. When your opponent picks from three choices instead of two, the simple math above becomes clouded. As we delve into various post-flop situations, you will learn to assess which are good for you and which are not.

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Slow-Playing There is always a debate as to whether or not you should slow-play premium hands before the flop. As always, it depends on your opponents. If your opponent will fold most non-premium hands if you re-raise, you should tend to call with premium hands and bluff more often until he adjusts. If he will give you action, you should re-raise for value with premium hands. Most weak opponents who raise tightly tend to at least call most re-raises, hoping to see a decent flop. If you have A-A or K-K and you think your opponent’s range is made up mostly of premium hands, you should re-raise in order to get money in before a scary flop comes. Suppose a TP with 100 big blinds raises from early position and you wake up with A-A in any other position. You should almost always re-raise to around 8 big blinds. Don’t vary your re-raise size based on your hand’s strength unless your opponents are extraordinarily weak, which may be the case at small-stakes games. You can re-raise larger, perhaps as much as 13 big blinds, if your opponent will never fold his hand. If he also has a premium hand, you want to deny him the opportunity to get off the hook if a bad flop comes. If you have A-A and your opponent will happily get all-in with Q-Q before the flop, it is a disaster to slowplay, giving him the opportunity to fold when an A or K flops. The same goes for AK. If your opponent would get all-in pre-flop but only if an A or K comes after the flop, you should do everything possible to get all-in before the flop. If instead a LAG, who assumes you will re-raise with only premium hands, raises to 3 big blinds from middle position, strongly consider calling in order to keep him in with his entire range, especially if he assumes your calling range generally consists of marginal hands. Don’t allow him to fold the hands you crush and continue with hands that have large implied odds. Again, if your opponent folds too often pre-flop, you can three-bet with a wide range until he adjusts. Realize that if you slow-play with premium hands, most of your value will come from inducing your opponent to bluff or value-bet with worse hands after the flop. Unless your opponent is overly spewy, it is nearly impossible to raise and re-raise on any flop while still getting your stack in. If you’re facing a LAG who thinks you are also a LAG, you should probably play your strong hands aggressively because he will doubt you when you three-bet. Suppose your opponent raises to 3 big blinds and you re-raise to 8 big blinds with K-K. If he is competent and thinks you are out of line, he will likely call with the intention of making a play post-flop, or he will four-bet pre-flop. If your opponent calls, you know to not fold on most flops, and if he four-bets, you can either call, keeping him in with his entire range and inducing a continuation bet, or five-bet if you think he will shove as a bluff. As always, you must think about what is likely to happen in later betting rounds. With any hand, you want to make plays that will put you in profitable situations in 83

the future. If you have a premium hand and know your opponent also has a strong hand or will not fold for any other reason, such as being on tilt or due to your maniacal image, you should pile the money in before he gets scared. If he will bluff off his stack when you slow-play but fold if you show aggression, slow-playing is clearly ideal. Always be thinking about your goal and how to achieve it.

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Abnormal Situations From time to time, especially in high-stakes games, you will run into situations that are significantly different than the standard “raise, call” or “raise, three-bet” lines we’ve discussed. These situations require drastic strategic adjustments. Be aware of these weird spots so you will not be surprised and confused when you see them for the first time. If you spend time away from the table thinking about all possible situations, you will be able to successfully navigate them when they show up. The first, and most common of these situations is when there is a raise and a reraise before the action gets to you. The most important factor is usually the threebettor’s range, which is often determined by the initial raiser’s range, especially if the three-bettor is a strong player. As a default, you should four-bet or fold. As stacks get deeper, calling becomes somewhat acceptable with hands that are getting the proper implied odds. Suppose a TP raises to 3 big blinds out of his 100-big blind stack from middle position and a LAG, also in middle position, re-raises to 8 big blinds. Given the stack sizes, you should four-bet or fold. Four-bet to 18 big blinds with hands such as A-K and J-J, and be happy getting all-in against the LAG. On the other hand, if the TP re-raises all-in over your four-bet, you should fold if you know he will only push with better hands. If you think he will sometimes push hands similar to A-Q and J-J, you have to hop in and gamble due to the pot odds. You can also throw in an occasional bluff to 18 big blinds with a wide range of hands if you expect to have reasonable fold equity. Bluffing is suicidal if both the initial raiser and threebettor are tight, unless you are sure they will give you credit for the nuts, which may be the case if you have a tight image. When you three-bet someone and get cold four-bet, believe him unless he is very capable of bluffing. A “cold” bet is one made by someone who currently has no money involved in the pot. You should generally five-bet or fold in these situations, although you can consider calling with hands that are getting the proper implied odds. If the four-bettor is tight, you should fold everything but A-A, K-K and occasionally Q-Q and A-K. Weak players will often cold-call three-bets with a wide range. These players tend to call with their own specific ranges. Some call with suited connectors and pairs, while others call with big cards. Note that some players cold-call with premium hands with the intention of trapping, or they’re scared to get all-in with a hand such as Q-Q. As you learn more about your opponents, you will be better able to define their cold-calling ranges, allowing you to play optimally. Facing a raise, three-bet and cold-call, you should call with good drawing hands when getting the proper implied odds if you are confident the initial raiser won’t four-bet. Continue only with premium hands if you think the initial raiser is going to four-bet, and call occasionally to trap. If you are the initial raiser, you can four-bet 85

with a fairly wide range if you expect to have some fold equity. However, since players who cold-call three-bets usually don’t fold to reasonably sized four-bets, don’t bluff too often. The best play is to continue with hands that have implied odds and fold hands that have reverse implied odds, such as A-J and K-Q. Pushing all-in as a bluff is not a bad option if the other players involved have wide ranges and you have a shorter stack such that you can do this for around five to eight times the three-bet. Remember that you must accurately assess your opponents’ ranges. You will go broke fast if you are frequently wrong. Suppose a LP raises to 3 big blinds out of his 150-big blind stack from middle position, another LP, also in middle position, re-raises to 8 big blinds and the cutoff, a TP, cold-calls. You are on the button. If the initial raiser is likely to call the three-bet, you can call with all good suited connectors and pairs. Fold hands such as A-Q and K-J because they will usually be dominated. However, you can play A -Q and K -J . Fold all these hands if the initial raiser is likely to re-raise, because you will often call 8 big blinds and then fold to additional pressure, effectively throwing away 8 big blinds. Call or re-raise with premium hands, namely A-A, K-K, Q-Q and A-K, depending on how often you expect the initial raiser to re-raise. Realize that 10-10 and A-Q are not strong enough to get all-in, given this action. Countless weak players go broke with these marginal hands even though one of their opponents likely has them crushed if a lot of money goes in. Facing a raise, three-bet and cold four-bet, play only A-A, K-K and occasionally Q-Q and A-K, usually going all-in. If you have a super tight image and you know both the three-bettor and the four-bettor have loose ranges, you can consider going all-in as a bluff with hands that do well when called, such as 9 -8 and A -3 , although that would be quite optimistic. The best play when multiple players show extreme strength is to simply fold and wait for a better spot. There is no reason to get involved, even with a hand as strong as J-J or A-Q, because you are likely crushed by one of your opponents’ ranges. Continue only with A-A or K-K against a raise, three-bet, cold four-bet and cold call. You will have very little fold equity and one of your opponents will have a premium hand. This applies even if you are the initial raiser or three-bettor. As more players put significant amounts of money in the pot, you need a stronger hand to play such that you can eventually continue only with A-A and K-K. Note in particular that you should rarely fold K-K before the flop. You will incorrectly fold this hand far more than half the time, which is usually a disaster, especially since you are usually getting amazing pot odds by the time you know your opponent’s range is premium. If you accurately assess your opponents’ ranges in all situations, you will be able to profitably navigate even the roughest, most bizarre situations.

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Playing from the Small Blind The small blind differs from all other positions in that you will be out of position throughout the hand. In this section we will discuss every situation besides headsup spots against the big blind, which we will examine later. Facing a standard pre-flop raise in the small blind, you will be getting a small discount to take a flop compared to all other positions besides the big blind. Most amateurs use this as justification to call with a wide range from the small blind, hoping to flop well. You should actually play a snug pre-flop strategy from the small blind, usually three-betting or folding when facing only one raiser. This is because if you call an initial raise, you will be giving the big blind excellent odds to call, and he will have relative position throughout the hand. Relative position stems from the fact that both you and the big blind will frequently check the flop, the initial raiser will usually continuation-bet, and you will have to make your decision before the big blind, so that he will see what everyone else does before making his decision. Since you will be on the losing end of this deal, you usually want the big blind out of the hand, especially if he plays reasonably well. Suppose someone in middle position raises to 3 big blinds out of his 150-big blind stack. As long as the initial raiser is not overly tight and the big blind is a decent player, you should re-raise or fold almost every hand you plan on playing. If the initial raiser is tight, meaning he will have most of your three-betting range crushed and you will have very little pre-flop fold equity, or if you want the big blind in the hand because he is a terrible player, you should call with most hands. When you three-bet from out of position in either blind, you usually want to make a slightly larger than pot-sized re-raise to give yourself a bit more pre-flop fold equity and reduce your opponent’s implied odds. Here you should make it between 10 and 11 big blinds. If the big blind is an especially bad player with many easily exploitable postflop leaks, you should call a raise in the small blind with hands that flop well and three-bet with those that flop poorly. For example, it’s fine to call a raise with A J , 9 -7 or 3-3 from the small blind if you expect the big blind to call with a wide range of hands against which you will fare well. However, you should usually three-bet with hands such as A -4 and K -5 , assuming you want to play them in the first place. There is nothing wrong with folding these hands when out of position. I actually play much tighter in the small blind than most players because I realize how detrimental it is to be out of position. If you play a LAG strategy from every other position, your opponents will usually not notice your tightness from the small blind. This will allow you to get full value from your strong hands when out of position without giving too much action in return. Facing one or more limpers, tend to call the extra half of a big blind with a range 87

of hands that will do well against your opponents’ limping ranges. This typically means folding hands that are dominated or have little potential, such as A-x, K-x, 8 -5 and 4 -2 . Call with hands that can flop reasonably well, such as A-10, 3-3, J -7 , Q -9 and 8 -5 . If the big blind happens to raise, you should only call with hands that do well against a reasonably tight range because most players in the big blinds will only raise with a strong holding. Even if the big blind raises and multiple players call, you should fold hands such as A-10, 9-8 and Q -8 , despite the good odds. When out of position against a strong range, you should simply get out of the way unless your hand has a lot of potential. If there is a raise from the big blind and multiple callers, feel free to call if you have a hand with high implied odds, such as A -4 , 9 -8 and 3-3. The strategy outlined earlier for playing against three-, four- and five-bettors generally applies to small blind play as well. The main difference is that if called, you will be out of position in a large pot, which is not desirable at all unless your opponent will frequently fold to your continuation bets after the flop. This should again lead you to play tightly from the small blind. You will find a few more opportunities to re-raise as a bluff from the small blind because, quite often, someone will raise from early or middle position and a player will call in late position, hoping to see a cheap flop. You can then make a pot-sized re-raise and frequently pick up the pot. If one player calls, you can continuation-bet fairly often, expecting your opponents to play straightforwardly. Most of your profit from this play will come from your pre-flop fold equity, so you need to know your opponents will fold often before getting too far out of line. Let me make it perfectly clear that you should play tightly from the small blind. It is by far the worst seat at the table. Calling raises in the hope of seeing cheap flops will usually lead to significant trouble later in the hand. Re-raising will often result in your playing a bloated pot from out of position. Save yourself a lot of anguish and just fold.

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Playing from the Big Blind Your strategy in the big blind should be similar to that in the small blind except when you face a pre-flop raise. Instead of three-betting or folding, you should call more often because you will be getting better pot odds and will be closing the action. When you are not closing the action, usually because there is a limp and then a raise, you should play fairly tight, as in the small blind. Even though you should call much more often from the big blind, you should still not get too far out of line. For example, if a TAG with 120 big blinds raises from middle position and everyone folds to you in the big blind, the bottom of your calling range should be roughly 2-2, A -10 , A -4 , K -J , K -10 , J -10 , 9 -7 and 6 -5 . Tighten this range even further if your opponent plays well after the flop, specifically folding the worst suited connectors. You can call or re-raise with strong hands, such as 10-10 and A-Q. You should sporadically re-raise with hands that don’t quite warrant a call, such as K -7 . That being said, don’t get too far out of line. Also, be prepared to play more hands aggressively if your opponent raises from later position, because his range will be weak. If there is a raise and multiple callers, you should tend to see a flop with a fairly wide range of pairs, reasonable suited connecters and big cards. Again, fold hands such as A-4 and K-7 unless they are suited. You can consider calling with hands such as 9-8 if you are getting excellent odds, but it still can never be much of a leak to fold them. When a LAG raises and everyone folds to you in the big blind, you should continue to play fairly tight, especially if you expect him to call or four-bet if you three-bet. You can three-bet as a bluff from time to time if he will assume you have a strong hand and call with the intention of playing straightforwardly after the flop. Remember, as you get further out of line, you must have a crystal-clear picture of how your opponent will proceed. If your vision is muddled, you should play a solid TAG style. You will occasionally have the opportunity to re-raise from the big blind when facing a raise and a few callers. Suppose a LAG raises to 3 big blinds and four players call. You should strongly consider making a pot-sized re-raise if you think you will have reasonable fold equity. While your hand isn’t too relevant, you usually want a hand that is either strong enough to take on a caller or weaker than the rest of your calling range. You should tend to call instead with marginal hands such as Q-J and 9 -8 because they flop fairly well. Bluffing with hands such as A-4 and 7 -4 is perfectly acceptable if done sparingly. You should also consider four-bet bluffing when a LAG raises and another LAG three-bets. Your re-raise needn’t be too large because you will be representing extreme strength both by cold four-betting and re-raising from out of position. If the first LAG raises to 3 big blinds and the second re-raises to 9 big blinds, you should 89

four-bet to around 24 big blinds. I am sure I sound like a broken record by now, but remember to think about your opponents and how they will react. If things are likely to turn out nicely for you, go for it. If you will probably get into trouble, fold and wait for a better situation.

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Blind Versus Blind The players in the blinds in small- and middle-stakes live cash games often agree to chop, or not play against each other, when the action folds to them. They claim they are trying to speed up the game but in reality, they are scared to play shorthanded. You stand to make a lot of money if you know how to play shorthanded and your opponents do not. You have no obligation to chop. Play your game and do not worry about what the scared players think. The effects of both your opponent’s tendencies and your position are magnified when you play heads-up. The small blind will always be out of position, and the big blind always in position. This will lead to drastically different strategies from each position.

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From the Small Blind There are two main player types in the big blind: those who play straightforwardly and those who try to win almost every pot. If your opponent plays straightforwardly, only calling a raise when he has a decent hand and frequently folding to continuation bets, your strategy is simple. Raise with a wide range and continuation-bet almost every time. When your opponent continues past the flop, he will tend to have something, so you should get out of the hand unless you also have a strong holding. You should constantly bluff on scary turn and river cards if your opponent is capable of folding. Look for any excuse to take an aggressive line against a tight, straightforward player, especially if he believes you are the same type of player. Small- and middle-stakes players typically play in this manner due to their lack of experience in heads-up situations. If the player in the big blind typically calls or three-bets whenever you raise from the small blind, you should adjust by playing a tight range. These aggressive players also tend to raise limps, making it difficult for you to continue in any manner. Against this player type, simply play hands that can stand pressure when out of position. The way you will make money off the aggressive players is by tricking them into thinking you are raising with a wide range when you’re actually tight. In today’s games, if your opponent in the big blind is a strong player, it is probably wise to frequently limp in from the small blind. This will induce your opponent to raise to around 4 big blinds. You can call with hands that flop well, fold your weak hands and re-raise to around 15 big blinds both for value and as a bluff with a polarized range. If your opponent calls your re-raise, you should tend to continuation-bet. If he four-bets to 35 big blinds or so, you can go all-in with your value hands and fold your bluffs. This strategy allows you to realize your equity with most of your hands that are getting the proper odds to limp in. Notice that you’ll be getting 3:1 pot odds to call when the action folds to you in the small blind. Most hands are too good to fold even if your opponent plays reasonably well. This aggressive limping strategy will quickly show your opponent you are serious about playing hands from the blinds. If he knows you will not be pushed around, you will see many more flops, allowing you to realize your equity. This strategy will allow you to at least hold your own against tough players. Against weak players, simply raise and rob them blind. It’s good to get a bit out of line at the start of a session so you can figure out which type of player you are against. You can bully a tight player until he plays back at you. You will likely lose the first few hands to an aggressive player and then be set up nicely to sit back and wait for a strong hand. Most people play their default strategy from the big blind, meaning if they are typically LAG, they will be LAG from the big blind. If they are TP, they will be TP from the big blind. While some of the tighter players get a bit stubborn, they usually don’t alter their basic 92

strategy much.

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From the Big Blind Players in the small blind also tend to fall into two categories: those who play straightforwardly and those who try to win every pot. If your opponent is straightforward, raising with strong hands and limping in with marginal holdings, you should call his raises when you have a strong hand or are getting the proper implied odds to continue. Play aggressively when he limps, usually raising with the intention of continuation-betting after the flop. If you check with marginal hands when the small blind limps, you should look to apply pressure after the flop when it is clear he has a weak hand, which will often be the case. This strategy will keep you out of trouble when your opponent has a strong hand and allow you to win most pots when he has nothing. Note that some tight players will raise from the small blind, continuation-bet most flops and give up if you are still in the pot. Try to get to the turn with these players and steal the pot whenever they give up. If your opponent raises with a wide range, your options for exploiting him are limitless. You can three-bet frequently, forcing him to either fold or play out of position with a wide range of hands in a large pot. If he four-bets, you can call or re-raise with premium hands, call when getting the proper implied odds if your hand has potential, and fold your junk. You can also call his pre-flop raise and look to raise his flop continuation-bet. This will put him in a miserable situation after the flop unless he has flopped a premium hand, which is rarely the case. You can float his flop continuation bet and raise the turn with a wide range, again applying significant pressure. You can even float all the way to the river, and then raise. Even though you have numerous ways to outplay your opponent, don’t get too far out of line. Most LAGs will recognize you are trying to win every pot from the big blind and will adjust accordingly. Don’t get into a situation where your opponent knows you are willing to stack off every time you play blind-versus-blind. If he adjusts by only playing strong hands, you will be in big trouble. Be willing to give up a few pots and you will be able to ravage a small blind who attempts to steal your big blind, purely because you have position and know how to use it.

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Dealing with Abnormal Raise Sizes You will occasionally encounter a player who makes abnormally small or large bets. You need to quickly figure out what his bet sizes mean and adjust accordingly. Pay attention also to the effect these weird bet sizes have on your pot odds. If a player makes tiny bets, min-raising pre-flop and continuation-betting 1/5-pot, try to stick around in the hands you play due to your excellent odds. If the player is tight, you should play hands that can make top pair and those with large implied odds. These players often hope you will call their tiny bets with worse hands. They don’t realize they’re giving you excellent immediate and implied pot odds, allowing you to see many flops, turns and rivers. One of the most profitable player types to play against is the guy who makes tiny pre-flop re-raises with premium hands and refuses to fold after the flop. Suppose you are playing $5/$10 with $1,000 stacks. You raise to $30 from middle position and an opponent of this type makes it $60 from the button. Call with your entire range besides hands that are easily dominated, such as unsuited A-x and K-x hands, where x is 10 or lower. Check-raise on the flop when you can beat A-A, check-call with a marginal made hand if you are getting the proper implied odds to beat A-A, and check-fold when you miss. This strategy is extremely exploitable, but your opponent will be blinded by his strong starting hand. Suppose you called his small re-raise with 2-2. If the flop comes with a 2, you will often win your opponent’s stack. Check-fold if you don’t hit your 2, unless your opponent makes another abnormally tiny bet, giving you the proper implied odds to continue to draw to your two outs. If you have K-J and the flop comes K-10-3, you should usually check with the intention of calling a reasonable bet. This will prevent your being bluffed off your hand or losing a giant pot when you are beat. You can get away cheaply if your opponent wants to pile his stack in on later streets. You can continue if you turn two pair or trips. Don’t assume a hand such as top pair with a bad kicker is strong, especially when your opponent’s range is mostly premium hands that have you dominated. Some players, especially in small-stakes games, make abnormally large pre-flop raises and re-raises. In fact, the standard pre-flop raise at some tables is huge, sometimes as much as 10 big blinds. In this case, play a tight range of hands that do not need implied odds to call, as you usually won’t be getting the correct immediate or implied odds to continue. In other words, play a fairly tight strategy, waiting for mostly premium hands. It may be tempting to see a flop with a speculative hand when there is a giant raise and a call, but you will be burning equity because you won’t often flop well enough. Suppose you are playing $1/$2 and a TAG makes it $20 out of his $200 stack from middle position. So far he has played very few hands and when he does, he 95

raises huge. Two LPs call. Go all-in or fold when the action gets to you. Calling is usually out of the question. An all-in range in this situation would be approximately A-A, K-K, Q-Q, J-J and A-K. Fold everything else. You could consider calling with all worse pairs, hoping to flop a set, but you would barely be getting the necessary implied odds. If you think the initial raiser and the callers all have marginal hands or will fold even their strong hands if you go all-in, pushing becomes a fine option with hands that do well when called, such as A -4 and J -10 . Even if there is a 10-big blind raise and numerous callers, you should still not call with speculative hands, such as suited connectors and unsuited big cards. Unsuited connectors usually need 20:1 implied odds before they’re playable. You will rarely be getting implied odds that large. While it is never fun to sit around waiting for the nuts, it is by far the most profitable strategy when your opponents play in a manner that denies you the proper implied odds. Some people play normally with most hands, but turn certain hands face-up by raising to a large amount before the flop. The player often has done poorly in the past with these hands, so he bets big in an attempt to avoid seeing a flop with them. This is not sound reasoning. The specific hands vary from player to player, but are usually drawn from the range Q-Q, J-J, 10-10 and A-K. If you know your opponent normally raises to 3 big blinds but raises J-J to 5 big blinds, you can call with literally any two cards, especially from late position, and look to steal the pot whenever the board is bad for J-J. Some of these players will quickly ditch the hand in question if you raise on any flop. A player who is deathly afraid of playing J-J after the flop will often be quick to get out of the way because he doesn’t want to get stacked with J-J again. Some people will raise J-J large pre-flop and refuse to fold regardless of postflop action or betting lines because they can’t believe it will lose again. Call against these players with hands that have a lot of equity against J-J, and play accordingly. There is no point in trying to bluff someone who is unbluffable. As you learn more about your opponents and their distinct strategic deviations, you will be able to accurately pinpoint their ranges, which could be as small as one hand, and take advantage of them.

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Straddling A straddle is an additional blind bet, usually of two big blinds, placed by the player in first position. This player goes last pre-flop then in the normal rotation post-flop, meaning he will usually be out of position after the flop. Straddling is optional in most games, although some games require it, effectively doubling the size of the game. A straddle halves the depth of all chip stacks. All future bets should be around twice the normal size because all pots will be twice as large. As a consequence, hands with implied odds, such as 2-2 and 9 -7 , go way down in value and hands such as A-J and K-Q go up in value. Hands such as top pair will be a bit stronger and have lower reverse implied odds. Use this knowledge to tailor your pre-flop strategy for a straddle. Players who voluntarily straddle often raise or re-raise before the flop when the action gets to them. For example, someone raises to 6 big blinds, four players call and the straddle re-raises to around 30 big blinds. Usually no one has a hand that can withstand that much pressure, allowing the straddle to win the pot without seeing a flop. You can get all-in with a very wide range if you know the player who straddled is likely to make this play. If the straddle makes this play every time, you can raise with the intention of going all-in with any two cards due to the insanely high fold equity, assuming your opponent is not pot-committed. But don’t get too far out of line. You usually do not want to four-bet with nut hands because the straddle will likely fold. Call the straddle’s three-bet with A-A and K-K and let him bluff off his stack after the flop. You should rarely make a straddle bet unless you are trying to give your money away. Some players think throwing in two big blinds will make the tight players go nuts, inducing them to try to steal the larger pot. In reality, the tight players will play tighter because they will have to risk a larger percentage of their stack if they want to enter the pot. A straddle just makes the tight players’ default strategy of waiting for premium hands more correct while jacking up the variance for the LAGs. Another type of straddle, the Mississippi straddle, is becoming increasingly popular. In this case the button places a blind bet, usually of two big blinds, before the cards are dealt. The player to his left, the small blind, goes first, with the option to either call 1.5 more big blinds, raise or fold. The action then moves to the big blind, who can call an additional big blind, raise or fold. The Mississippi straddle really crushes the blinds, which is why I think it is a terrible variation. By forcing the blinds to either call out of position, raise from what is now first position or fold, no one at the table besides the button, who straddled, has an incentive to enter the pot. This should lead to super tight, uninteresting games. But this is usually not the case. Players often limp in with a wide range, allowing the button to raise with a wide range, usually stealing the pot. The straddle can also check and see a flop with a random hand in position against multiple opponents, 97

which is not a bad result. If the Mississippi straddler is a loose player, which is often the case, you should play a tight game from every other position. Notice that even if you raise to 6 big blinds and the straddle calls with any two cards, you will be out of position in a rather large pot with deep stacks against a LAG. You will have a difficult time continuing even if the LAG is particularly bad, because he will often bloat the pot before the flop and put you in difficult post-flop situations. Even if everyone else is gambling it up, if you expect the straddler to aggressively use his position, you have to play tight. If your game allows for a Mississippi straddle, you should straddle as long as you are not the only person doing it. I strongly suggest you not be the first to make the Mississippi straddle because it may induce other players to make them. Also, the stacks need to be fairly deep, usually over 150 big blinds, in order to profitably Mississippi straddle. The last thing you want to do is turn a perfectly good game into one that requires you to play tightly from every position besides the button.

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Chapter 4 The Flop

The strategy of most players on the flop is to either play straightforwardly or continuation-bet every time as the pre-flop aggressor, and to check to the raiser otherwise. This strategy is not awful, but it leaves a lot of money on the table. You should base your flop decision on the pre-flop action, your hand, your perceived range, your opponent’s range, your position and the flop’s texture. The four primary situations you will encounter are when you are heads-up as the aggressor, heads-up as the caller, multiway as the aggressor and multiway as the caller. You must adjust your play in each situation, based on your relative position. I will outline my basic strategy for all of these situations, but you will have to constantly adjust your play to your specific opponents’ tendencies to maximize your win rate.

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Heads-up as the Aggressor in Position Single-raised pots as the pre-flop aggressor come in two varieties. You can raise and one of the blinds calls, or someone can limp, you raise and the limper calls. These two situations result in apparently similar post-flop situation, but you must think about them differently because a big blind’s calling range is drastically different than that of an early- or middle-position limper.

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Facing a Blind When you raise and one of the blinds calls, you should tend to make a continuation bet if the flop is good for your hand, good for your perceived range, i.e. what your opponent thinks you likely have, or bad for your opponent’s range. This will often be the case if you are playing a fundamentally sound LAG game, hence you should frequently continuation-bet. If you raise the hands suggested in the pre-flop section, relatively few flops should miss your range, which generally contains a mix of all hand types, pairs, big cards, suited connectors and suited aces. Some flops will be worse for a TAG’s range than for a LAG’s range. Continuation-bet less often if you are a TAG, especially if your opponent will attack whenever you should have a generally weak range. You can continuation-bet most of the time if your opponent plays straightforwardly. You should almost always continuation-bet if the flop is good for your hand, meaning you have top pair with a good kicker or better, or a reasonably strong draw. You make money in cash games by getting value from worse made hands and draws. The pots you win will usually be small if you do not continuation-bet with your strong hands, especially in position as the aggressor. If you win small pots with good hands and lose large pots when your opponents have good hands, you will quickly lose your bankroll. With a good hand, your decision is simple. You should continuation-bet. The discussion below mostly assumes you have a weak hand, expecting most of your profit to come from making your opponent fold, as those decisions tend to be difficult. A continuation bet is strong because your opponent will miss the flop around 65% of the time. If your opponent plays in a straightforward manner, only continuing when he has a decent holding, your continuation bet will cause him to fold all of those times he misses. If you make a 2/3-pot continuation-bet every time, regardless of your equity when called, your opponent only needs to fold 40% of the time for you to profit. You will usually have some equity when your opponent calls. In fact, you will sometimes have the best hand. If you win the 65% of the time your opponent misses the flop and have around 40% equity when he calls, you will demolish your opponents. As your technical skills improve, you will learn to identify flops that are good for your opponent, and you can decline to continuationbet on those, further enhancing your earnings. Quite a few small-stakes players will call your continuation bets with a wide range, waiting to see what you do on the turn. They will check-call the flop with Ahigh, overcards or a gutshot straight draw, then check-fold the turn when they miss. You can still bet the flop with a wide range with the intention of betting again on the turn. This is referred to as “two-barreling”. These players are hugely profitable to play against because they so often give you an extra bet. If your opponent occasionally bluffs intelligently, you have to alter your strategy 101

quite a bit. Instead of continuation-betting every time, you have to figure out when your marginal hand cannot withstand a check-raise. These are hands such as top pair with a weak kicker and middle pair with a good kicker, although it depends on your opponent’s tendencies. For example, top pair with a marginal kicker becomes effectively the nuts against a maniac who check-raises every flop. Consider checking behind on the flop with marginal made hands if you think your opponent is likely to raise or fold when you continuation-bet. You don’t mind being raised with premium hands, draws and junk, as you can easily continue with the premium hands and draws, and fold the rest. Notice that an observant opponent may see that you only check behind on the flop with medium-strength hands, in which case he will have a clear idea of where you stand whenever you do not continuation-bet. In this case, consider checking back with a slightly wider range, adding some premium hands and junk to it. Your opponent will make countless blunders on later streets when he assumes you have a medium-strength hand and you actually have the nuts or nothing. When the flop comes, you should immediately evaluate whether it is good for your range or bad for your opponent’s range. If your opponent’s range is made up mostly of pairs and big cards, which is typical of tight players, consider checking back on boards containing two big cards if your hand isn’t reasonably strong. You can easily fold a weak hand to a turn bet. If your opponent does not bet the turn, he probably has a small pair or unpaired big cards, in which case you can bluff him off the pot with turn and river bets. If a player only calls pre-flop raises with big cards, you should continuation-bet whenever you have a good hand and on all boards that do not contain two high cards. Against a loose player who calls raises with a wide range of pairs, big cards and middle cards, you should continuation-bet on most boards that don’t contain middle cards. Boards with two somewhat connected middle cards are especially good for your opponent’s range. Notice that every one of his likely hands except A-high connects with a 9-8-4 flop. Most other hands either have a pair, a gutshot or overcards. You should still bet high-card boards because your range should contain more high cards than your opponent’s range. Your range should contain more middle cards as you get into later positions, allowing you to continuation-bet more often on those boards. If your opponent is one of the many who seldom bluff when they think the flop is bad for your range, you should almost always continuation-bet on flops that typically miss both your ranges, because he will usually not have a strong hand. Most straightforward opponents will not be concerned that you also have a weak range. Boards with one big card and two small cards are particularly good to continuation-bet. Even a player whose range consists of mostly high cards will often miss the flop. For the same reason, bet most boards with one middle card and two small cards. The same goes for boards with three small cards. Novices are 102

starting to realize that boards containing a pair almost always miss both players. They seem a bit more likely to make plays on these boards, but it is still rarely bad to continuation-bet when your opponent has probably missed the flop, especially if he is likely to fold to pressure on later streets. Your plan when your opponent calls your flop continuation bet is certainly to not play straightforwardly on the later streets. We will thoroughly examine turn and river play in the next chapter. Most players tend to re-raise before the flop when they have big cards. It’s good to check behind in this case on boards containing two or three middle cards. Assuming you missed the flop, it’s also rather bad to bet on boards with three cards of the same suit. Your opponent will have a flush draw around 40% of the time. He will have a pair around 30% of the time. Hence, he will often call your continuation-bet with a lot of equity, which is bad for you unless you can make him fold by the river.

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Bet Sizing You should generally size your bets based on your opponents’ calling tendencies and the flop texture. I use a default continuation-bet size of around 2/3 pot in tough games to conceal the strength of my hand, but you should vary your bet size quite a bit in soft games to achieve the desired results. If your opponent will fold to large continuation bets and call small ones, you should bet large when you have nothing and small when you want him to call. If your opponent thinks large bets mean you are trying to steal the pot, you should bet large with your strong hands. Since you will often not have this information, you should stick to a standard bet size somewhere between 1/2 and 3/4 pot until you know more about your opponent. That said, you can learn about your opponent’s flop tendencies by getting out of line and experimenting with various bet sizes. You can also observe how he reacts to other players’ continuation bets. Keep your eyes open and pay attention. On wet boards, i.e., those with many straight and flush draw possibilities, such as 10 -8 -7 , you should bet a bit larger than normal, perhaps 3/4 pot instead of 2/3 pot, to reduce your opponent’s implied odds and encourage him to fold weak made hands and draws. Bet a bit smaller on dry boards, such as J-6-2, with little drawing potential. Your opponent probably has nothing, and will continue otherwise, regardless of your bet size. Since you will have a weak range on dry boards, you want to make your continuation bets as small as possible while inducing your opponent to play honestly. He may continue with a wide range if you bet just 1/5 pot on a dry board, but is likely to react honestly if you bet 1/2 pot. I said earlier that betting for information is usually not a good play. However, a bet will show a huge profit when you can get accurate information cheaply and force your opponent to play in a straightforward manner while giving your self an excellent shot to win the pot with the worst hand.

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Facing a Lead Occasionally a pre-flop caller will bet into you. This is referred to as a “lead” or a “donk bet”. You have to figure out your opponent’s range in this case and play accordingly. Most players lead with specific hand types, usually medium-strength made hands such as top pair with a bad kicker, middle pair, draws or the nuts. Excellent players lead with a balanced range of premium made hands, decent draws and hands that are too good to check-fold but too weak to check-call, such as bottom pair and gutshot draws. When an unknown player leads into you, you can generally assume he is betting with a medium-strength made hand, hoping to “find out where he is at”. Weak opponents tend to assume you will raise with your better hands and call or fold with your worse hands. Your opponent is betting for information, which you know is a huge mistake. Since your opponent is looking to get away from his hand if you tell him he’s beat, you should look to give him the bad news. With all hands worse than top pair, you should either raise the flop with the intention of barreling the turn, or float the flop, which is to call a flop bet with a wide range, looking to either bet the turn when your opponent checks to you or to raise if he continues betting on the turn. If you raise, you usually want to make it around 3/4 pot. I prefer raising the flop because that applies quite a bit of pressure and implies that large bets may go in on future streets. If you float, your opponent may check the turn and go into pot-control mode, checking with the intention of calling whatever you bet on the turn and river. Call on the flop if your hand beats top pair, inducing him to think his hand is better. You want to trick your opponent into folding when he has you beat and thinking he has the best hand when he is crushed. I remember the first time this concept of giving your opponent inaccurate information made sense to me. I was playing $5/$10 with $1,000 stacks. I raised to $30 with 6 -5 from middle position and an LP called from the big blind. The flop came 10 -7 -2 . My opponent bet $40 and I raised to $120. Notice that $120 is around a 2/3-pot raise, per our formula. A pot-size raise is $40(3) + $65 = $185, and 2/3 of that is ($185)(0.66) = $122. As long as your opponent bets reasonably large, raising to around three times his bet is ideal. He quickly called. The turn was the 9 . My opponent checked and I bet $240. He thought for around two minutes before folding 10 -5 . In his mind, I clearly had a better hand and he made what he thought was a great laydown. In reality, I was fairly confident he had exactly what he had and I was willing to get out of line and do something about it. If your opponent tends to lead with a draw, you should call, looking to fold when he hits and continue when he misses. I once played a hand at $5/$10 against a LAG who I knew to lead with draws. He led on all three streets on 9 -8 -5 -4 -4 . I called down with A-K, winning a nice pot from J -10 . If your opponent leads with premium hands, such as two pair or better, hoping to induce you to bluff 105

because he thinks you will assume he has a range of medium-strength hands, you should simply fold to his lead unless you are getting the proper implied odds to continue, which will usually be the case with a draw. If you are confident your opponent leads with a balanced range of premium made hands, draws and mediocre made hands, you should tend to call his lead with a reasonably wide range of weak made hands, strong made hands and draws. You should either raise as a bluff or fold with your weak hands. You can also raise with your best hands from time to time in order to balance your raising range. Regardless, don’t fold too often because your opponent will usually be getting a decent price on his bluff. Few players lead with a balanced range, so this will not be much of an issue. However, in online games, where betting trends are a few years ahead of live poker, some players have started leading with a decent frequency. Most of them lack balance, providing an opportunity to exploit them.

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Facing a Limp-caller When someone limps, you raise and the limper calls, the range you assign your opponent should be quite different than if he had called from the blinds. Players who limp-call a pre-flop raise usually have a marginal high-card hand, such as K-J, a drawing hand, such as A -X or 9 -7 , or a small pair. Given this range, you should continuation-bet every flop because no flops squarely hit your opponent’s range. Notice that A-J-3, 8-7-3 and 5-3-2 could all be good or bad for your opponent, based on this perceived range. At the risk of over-simplification, you should continuation-bet with any hand unless you pick up a tell that indicates your opponent may have connected with the flop. When the limp-caller leads into you, you should respond as when a blind leads into you. However, I am more cautious about bluffing a limp-caller than a blind on boards that tend to give him either a strong hand or nothing. For example, if the limper leads on 6-4-2, he probably has a pair with a straight draw, an overpair or a set. Given this range, there is no point in bluffing. But you should look to take the pot away on a K-Q-6 board because you could easily have a piece of that flop and it is unlikely your opponent has a hand better than top pair, top kicker.

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Slow-playing You should generally only slow-play on the flop when your opponent could easily catch up to a strong, but still second-best hand. If he is likely to improve to a weak hand, he will probably not give action on future streets. If he catches up and makes the best hand, you stand to lose a lot of money. Suppose you raise with 3-3 and the player in the big blind calls. The flop comes A-3-2 and he checks. This is a terrible spot to slow-play. He will give you a lot of action if he has an A. If a 5 or 4 comes on the turn, you could easily be beat if your opponent gives you significant action. If he has a pair between K-K and 4-4 and makes a set on the turn, you stand to lose your stack. He probably won’t lose much money if he has a hand such as K-Q and a K or Q comes on the turn. When you check behind on the flop, you not only lose value from an A but you give your opponent a freeroll to catch one of his few outs. While it may be tempting to check behind against an aggressive opponent, it is usually a better play to make a standard continuation bet and hope he either continues with his made hands or bluffs with nothing. Even though your opponent will usually check-fold when he misses on this board, betting is mandatory. Suppose you raise with 2-2 and the big blind calls. The flop comes J-6-2 and your opponent checks. This is a reasonable spot to slow-play. You will miss a lot of value if he has a J, but he will certainly give you value on the turn and river unless scary cards come. If your opponent has a pair that is not on the board, such as 5-5, checking back may make him think he has the best hand, allowing you to extract a little value on future streets. If your opponent has an unpaired hand, especially overcards, and he makes a pair on the turn, he will probably give you a lot of action due to the dry board. Also notice there are few draws on the flop. If the board is 8-6-2 instead, you should probably bet because your opponent could easily have a gutshot. Slow-playing becomes a decent option as the board becomes overly dry and bad for a poor opponent’s range. A good opponent will realize you always continuation-bet on dry boards. If he knows you always bet with your decent and bad hands but check with the nuts, he will quickly adjust and exploit you. Hence, you should rarely slow-play on the flop, especially against good players, unless you are frequently checking behind. Since your strategy should be to usually continuation-bet, you should maintain a balance by betting the nuts just as you bet every other hand in your range. It is not fun to bet with the nuts and see your opponent quickly fold, but it is mandatory to keep your entire continuation-betting range strong. However, checking back with the nuts on dry boards is reasonable against an inattentive opponent who will blindly attack any sign of weakness.

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When Check-raised When you continuation-bet and get check-raised, the way you proceed depends on your opponent’s check-raising range, your hand and how likely you can continue profitably on various turns. Unless you have a premium hand, if a passive person check-raises, you should give him credit for a legitimate hand. Ideally, you want to know the hands with which your opponent check-raises and check-calls. If you haven’t seen him show down any hands, you have to use your best judgment. A player who frequently check-raises the flop is probably doing it with a much wider range than someone who rarely check-raises. You can call down with top pair, top kicker if he check-raises often, but that hand should otherwise quickly hit the muck. Suppose you’re playing $2/$5 with $600 stacks. You raise with K-Q from middle position and an LP calls in the big blind. The flop comes K-10-3. Your opponent checks, you make a standard continuation bet of $20 and he raises to $60. If he is known to only check-raise with top pair, top kicker or better, or a draw, which is not at all uncommon even in high-stakes games, you should probably fold because you lose to all the made hands, and the draws have decent equity against you. You have an easy call if he tends to check-raise with all top pairs, some middle pairs, draws and bluffs, because you beat a number of his made hands, you fare well enough against the draws and you crush the bluffs. Facing a check-raise with top pair is one of the main spots where amateurs lose money because the situation is so player-dependent. Most weak players either always call or always fold. This strategy is far from ideal. You must use our opponent’s check-raising frequency and the hands you have seen at showdown to infer how wide he is check-raising for value and how often it’s a bluff. So, you should always fold if a passive opponent check-raises and you have a hand worse than top pair. With top pair, strongly consider your options and use your best judgment. You can usually call down with a hand better than top pair unless you know your opponent’s check-raising range is very tight. You can also call with a draw with at least eight outs if you’re getting proper implied odds. This is usually the case if the stacks are 100 big blinds or more. Next, you have to decide which hands to re-raise. If you think your opponent is check-raising with hands such as top pair to “find out where he is at”, and will fold if you three-bet the flop, you should occasionally semi-bluff with hands that have a little equity, such as gutshots or bottom pair with a good kicker. These hands are not quite good enough to call a check-raise, but they still have some value. You can easily fold to a four-bet. Call with your best hands, namely two pair and sets, if you think your opponent will sometimes fold to a three-bet. Clearly, if your opponent will never fold once he check-raises the flop, you should three-bet with your premium hands and never bluff, since you know he won’t fold. You should rarely three-bet the flop with top pair against a passive player 109

because he will usually only continue when you are in mediocre to poor shape. For example, you should either call or fold if a passive player check-raises and you hold K-J on a J-6-5 board. Re-raising will force him to fold worse hands and continue with better hands. This is the exact opposite of what you want to happen. Things get tricky when you are unsure how your opponent is likely to continue. I generally do not get too out of line, at least initially, when a passive player checkraises. You should start to experiment as it becomes clear his check-raising range is wide. When possible, I let other players do my experimenting for me. It is much cheaper to watch what happens when someone else three-bets the flop than to do it yourself. You have a significantly more complicated decision against a LAG who checkraises with a fairly wide range than when facing a passive player because the aggressive player’s range usually contains many types of hands. LAGs tend to be capable of check-raising bluffs, draws, premium holdings and hands that are not quite good enough to call with, such as bottom pair and gutshots. Top or middle pair is often good at the moment against this range, but consider how your hand will fare on various turn and river cards. For example, you should probably fold to a check-raise from a LAG with K -Q on a K -J -8 board. It will be difficult to profitably continue when one of the various draws comes in on the turn or river, and you could be crushed by a better made hand even if the draws do not come in. Call if instead the flop is K -7 -3 or K -J -5 , because you will have a reasonable idea of which turn cards are bad for you if your opponent is drawing. If you think he has too many bluffs in his range, you should look to call down with one-pair hands even on somewhat draw-heavy boards, especially if he is overly aggressive and known to fire multiple barrels when scary cards come. You should sporadically three-bet a LAG with a balanced range of premium hands and those not quite good enough to call. Most of your equity will usually come from trapping LAGs when they bluff too often, not from three-betting the flop and getting all-in with premium hands. Since most LAGs have a lot of bluffs in their ranges, you do not want to pile in money with your premium hands because they will fold. You may want to protect your premium hands by re-raising, but it is almost always better to call and trap, even on draw-heavy boards. Since you are rarely three-betting with your value hands, there should be few spots to bluff, as you want to stay somewhat balanced. Thinking about your opponent’s check-raising frequency will help you greatly to narrow his range when you’re check-raised. A check-raise from an opponent – whether TP, LP, TAG or LAG – who rarely does this indicates he either has the nuts or is polarized to the nuts and bluffs. A player who check-raises frequently is either check-raising with hands he thinks are strong or with a wide range made up of various hand types. Remember that most players simply check-raise when they have a strong hand. In that case, you should rarely get out of line. You can navigate this 110

tricky situation successfully if you are constantly thinking about your opponent’s range and how to proceed profitably on future streets.

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Heads-up as the Aggressor in Position in a Re-raised Pot When someone raises and calls after another player three-bets in position, the caller almost always checks to the three-bettor with the intention of playing straightforwardly, especially in small- and medium-stakes games. This is probably because a three-bet in these games generally indicates a premium hand. This allows the three-bettor to continuation-bet with a wide range, picking up the pot around 65% of the time. Avoid firing on boards that are good for your opponent’s range and bad for yours. Each player is unique, so you should tailor your continuationbetting strategy to your opponent’s tendencies. If you know your opponent is bad and tends to call re-raises out of position with pairs and big cards such as A-10 and K-J, you should continuation-bet all boards except those containing mostly high cards. Obviously, if you nail the flop, you should bet even if the board is good for your opponent’s range. Also, consider betting if you have no equity, because that is the only way you can win the hand. However, it might be better to check back the flop with the intention of bluffing the turn and river if your opponent continues to show weakness. Suppose an LP raises from middle position and you re-raise from the button. Your opponent calls and the flop comes K-J-4. You know your opponent tends to call re-raises with pairs and big cards but tends to fold hands with implied odds, such as A -4 and 9 -8 . You should probably bet with a hand such as A-K, K-J, J-J, 2-2 or 8-7. Check behind with hands such as K-10, A-J, Q-10 and A-10 because you do not want to get check-raised, especially if your opponent may sometimes bluff. Notice also that you will have a tough time getting called by worse made hands, so your opponent will probably only call your continuation bet with hands that have these mediocre made hands and draws in marginal shape. If you check back the flop and your opponent checks again on the turn, you should bet with all your bluffs with the intention of betting again on the river to get your opponent off all mediocre hands. With your marginal pair holdings such as K-10 and A-J, you should probably check back the turn, calling a river bet or betting for value if your opponent continues checking. If your opponent is a better player and calls re-raises with hands that have implied odds, you should be more prone to check back on draw-heavy boards when you either have a marginal made hand or nothing. Continuation-bet every time the flop contains three uncoordinated cards, three high cards or three low cards. So, if someone raises and you re-raise in position, consider checking back 9 -7 -5 and J -9 -5 if you know your opponent tends to call re-raises with pairs, A -X and suited connectors. If he checks again on the turn, consider firing two barrels on the turn and river as a bluff. Betting for value and checking behind are both acceptable with hands such as top or middle pair. 112

The main problem that arises from checking behind on the flop in three-bet pots is that your opponent will frequently bet the turn. Since most players expect the three-bettor to continuation-bet fairly often, they tend to assume the three-bettor either has a marginal made hand or nothing when he checks behind on the flop. Knowing this, some observant opponents will fire multiple barrels on the turn and river, putting you in a difficult spot with your entire range consisting of marginal hands. If your opponent is capable of attacking weakness, you should either check back the flop with a stronger range with the intention of calling down fairly often, or continuation- bet with a wider range, assuming he will not adjust by starting to attack your continuation bets. The good players you see in tougher games do not play in a straightforward manner in three-bet pots. The best players constantly look for situations where your continuation-betting range should be weak or their range should be strong. These players will either check-call the flop, looking to steal the pot on later streets, or try to win the hand immediately by check-raising the flop. They would be easy to play against if they were only taking these lines with bluffs, but unfortunately, they also take these lines for value. It’s probably best to avoid excellent players, but if you land in a three-bet pot against a good opponent, you should continuation-bet fairly often when the flop is good for your hand, bad for his range or good for your perceived range, and pray it works. Your opponents will often successfully bluff, but they usually bluff sparingly because they are out of position and have to risk a lot of chips. The best play is to simply throw out a continuation bet almost all the time. If you sometimes want to check back, it’s best to do so when you have a decent amount of value and can’t withstand a check-raise, and also on draw-heavy boards that likely hit your opponent’s pre-flop calling range.

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Bet Sizing After the flop in three-bet pots, you should tend to make smaller bets than in singleraised pots because the stacks remaining will be shorter. Remember, the purpose of large bets is to allow you to get your stack in on a later street without having to make gigantic bets. Since the stacks will start to become shallow compared to the pot, you should usually bet smaller. Suppose you are playing $2/$5 with $700 stacks, a TAG raises to $20 from middle position and you re-raise to $60 from the cutoff with K-K. Your opponent calls and the flop comes Q-9-4. Your opponent checks, you bet $75 and he calls. The pot is $277, with remaining stacks of $565. The turn is a 3, your opponent checks, you bet $175 and he calls. The pot is $627, with remaining stacks of $390. You can easily go all-in on the river with a 2/3-pot bet. If the starting stacks were instead $500, you could bet $60 on the flop and $120 on the turn, with a half-pot bet remaining on the river. As stacks get shallower, you needn’t be concerned about giving your opponent large implied odds because he can only win a small multiple of the current bet. Often the remaining stack size compared to the pot, rather than your hand, dictates how much you should bet. Consider making slightly larger bets when the board is draw-heavy if it’s clear you either can easily get stacks in or you definitely can’t, primarily to cut down on your opponent’s immediate and implied odds. Bet less on dry boards because your opponent can have fewer hands that connect with the board, allowing you to cheaply bluff. Consider adjusting your bet size if you think you can outplay your opponent with odd-sized bets. Suppose you are playing $5/$10 with $1,500 stacks. Your LP opponent raises to $30 from middle position, you re-raise to $90 from the button and he calls. Regardless of the flop, if you have a marginal or weak hand and think your opponent will play straightforwardly if you bet 3/4-pot but will sometimes bluff if you bet less, it is usually best to bet 3/4-pot. Make a smaller bet of around 2/3-pot if you have a premium hand and want your opponent to bluff. Many players in small-stakes games will react in a straightforward manner to any size of continuation bet after the flop. This allows you to continuation-bet small when you miss the flop and larger for value. He’ll continue if he has something he thinks is good, and he’ll fold otherwise. The money will quickly flow your way if you only lose a 2/5-pot continuation bet when you miss and your opponent connects, but you win 3/4-pot when you have the best hand. You must know your opponent’s game well to adjust your bet sizes. Play in a fairly unexploitable manner against a new opponent. This usually means betting about the same amount every time in similar situations.

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Facing a Lead The caller of a three-bet rarely leads into the three-bettor on the flop, but you should still be prepared to deal with it. Most players simply view these leads as strong and fold unless they have a premium hand. While some players lead only with premium hands, others do so with total bluffs or with medium-strength hands to “find out where they are at”. If you know your opponent’s range for the lead, you can develop a profitable strategy. Until you know that range, assume that tight or passive players have either premium or middle-strength hands and LAGs have mostly semi-bluffs. If you have the worst hand and think your opponent is probing with medium strength, such as top pair with a bad kicker or middle pair, strongly consider either raising the flop, or floating the flop and raising the turn. Use the option you think your opponent will fear the most. Call down with a premium hand, with the intention of raising the river, or put in a small raise on the flop and make small bets on the turn and river for value. Bluff with a marginal made hand such as middle or bottom pair because you are behind your opponent’s range. Call down with top pair, top kicker because you crush your opponent’s range. A hand such as top pair, top kicker can sometimes be the nuts and other times be trash. Quickly release top pair, top kicker against an opponent who only leads with two pair or better in threebet pots. If your opponent’s range is mostly semi-bluffs, you should usually call with made hands and see what develops on the turn if he likes to fire multiple barrels when he misses. Raising becomes ideal if your opponent will often fold to a flop raise and is unlikely to continue bluffing if he misses. Both floating and raising the flop are acceptable with a weak hand if you think you can easily make your opponent fold. Most players, especially in small- and medium-stakes games, have a strong hand when they take an overly aggressive line, such as leading into the pre-flop raiser in three-bet pots. Fold and wait for a better spot if you know your opponent’s range is strong, unless he is abnormally weak and will quickly fold strong hands to further pressure. If your opponent only leads into you one in 50 times when you three-bet, there is nothing wrong with giving him those pots. If he leads much more often, you should look to do something about it, as he is probably leading with a range that cannot stand much pressure.

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When Check-raised When you three-bet, continuation-bet and then get check-raised, it is usually time to play in a straightforward manner, as most opponents are not capable of bluffing for such a large amount of money. Unless they are extremely loose and aggressive, most players have a strong range consisting of strong value hands and semi-bluffs when they put a lot of money in the pot from out of position. You should almost always fold unless you have a strong hand when a tight or passive player check-raises in a three-bet pot. This is similar to being check-raised in a single-raised pot. You should be a bit more willing to get in with hands such as top pair, top kicker because your opponent will realize there isn’t much more money to go in the pot on later streets, meaning he will be more likely to checkraise hands such as top pair instead of only hands that can beat top pair. Suppose at $5/$10 a TP raises to $30 out of his $1,000 stack, you re-raise to $90 in position with K-J and he calls. The flop comes J-10-4. Your opponent checks, you bet $120 and he raises to $360. This is a decent spot to fold because your opponent’s range is likely Q-Q, J-J, 10-10, 4-4, A-J, K-J and Q-J. K-J only has 32% equity against this range, allowing you to easily ditch your hand. Even if your opponent semi-bluffs with K-Q, you still only have 38% equity. Your decision is tougher with a hand such as A-J because you have around 46% equity, but even then, folding is probably acceptable because you can’t know for sure if your opponent would play K-J or Q-J in this manner. Of course, never fold A-A because it is too likely to crush your opponent’s one-pair hands. However, even A-A becomes marginal if you know he would only check-raise with J-J, 10-10, 4-4, J10 and K-Q. Never try to bluff your opponent here because he has a range made up of all strong holdings he doesn’t plan to fold. When you plan to continue with a premium holding after being check-raised, you can either call or go all-in. Always think about the benefits and costs of each viable option. Going all-in is ideal if you think your opponent will call an all-in with his entire check-raising range, which is often the case against bad competition. Calling becomes best if you think he will fold the bottom end of his check-raising range, such as Q-J in the example above, because it forces your opponent to stay in the hand with his entire range. Calling is perfectly acceptable if you think he will push all-in with his entire check-raising range on all turn cards, never getting scared when an overcard or a card that completes a draw arrives, because you know the money is going all-in eventually. Try to get the money in on the flop if you think your opponent may check-fold a hand such as K-J if an A, Q or 9 comes on the turn. Think about how your opponent will continue, given your flop action. If he will never fold on the flop, there is no reason to call because he may get scared on various turn cards. Call if your opponent will fold the bottom of his check-raising range to a shove on the flop, because you really want him to continue with those hands. This is clearly a player-dependent situation. 116

If you go all-in with the nuts, thinking your opponent must have a premium made hand and will always call, and he instead folds, you have made a huge error. Most players are not capable of seeing their blunder as they rake in a large pot. Due to his wide range, your decision will be more difficult when a LAG checkraises. Even though some maniacs will get well out of line in any situation, even LAGs usually have some sort of hand when a lot of money goes in the pot. It is the rare player who will check-raise in a three-bet pot with stone air, unless he is sure you are continuation-betting with a wide range and can’t take much pressure. Most LAGs are at least somewhat capable of bluffing, and they understand hand values better than most tight or passive players. Hence, you should make your continuation bets a bit smaller than normal because you will frequently face a check-raise. Since you will probably not have a strong range, you want to conserve as much money as possible when your bluffs fail. Regardless of your bet size, you will be able to get a significant amount of money in the pot on later streets because of your re-raise before the flop. Small, 2/5-pot continuation bets, give you an excellent price on your bluffs while building decently large pots for the times you want to get all-in. When a LAG check-raises, his range usually consists of premium hands, weak made hands turned into semi-bluffs, draws and air. Most LAGs will only run total bluffs when they expect the flop to miss your range. For example, most good LAGs are fairly likely to check-raise with air or weak draws, such as Q -5 and 10 -9 , on a 7 -6 -3 board, but not on an A -K -4 board. If you know your opponent will check-raise with a wide range on the flop and play straightforwardly on later streets, it is usually best to call the flop check-raise and see what develops when you have a reasonably strong made hand. Think about how your hand will fare on various turn and river cards. Suppose you re-raise a LAG in position with 10 -8 and he calls. You continuation-bet a 10 -9 -5 board and he check-raises. While you likely have the best hand at the moment, you will have a difficult time continuing on most turns. If you get all-in on the flop, you are close to flipping against all draws, are crushed by most made hands and will make all total bluffs fold. Try to avoid this bad situation by folding to your opponent’s check-raise, or better yet, checking behind on the flop. As you can see, most of your difficult decisions will come when you have a good, but not great hand against players with muddled ranges. With deep stacks, it is usually best to check behind, sidestepping these spots, especially against aggressive opponents. You may still face tricky turn and river situations, but you will realize your equity much more often.

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Slow-playing When checked to in three-bet pots as the aggressor, your default play should be to make a fairly small continuation bet, usually hoping to pick up the pot. If your opponents figure out that you usually check behind with premium hands and bet with medium-strength hands and bluffs, they will start playing back at you when you continuation-bet. Since betting is how you pick up pots, you want to keep your betting range as strong as possible. For this reason, you should continuation-bet with your premium hands most of the time unless the flop is atrocious for your opponent’s range. If you would normally check back the flop with most of your three-betting range, your play should depend on what you expect your opponent to do on future streets. If you expect him to play straightforwardly, checking with nothing and betting when he has something, it’s probably best to bet the flop to hopefully induce him to bluff, or to stack him when he has a strong hand. Suppose you three-bet with 8-8 and your opponent calls from out of position. The flop comes 10 -8 -6 . Checking is a decent option if you think he will blast away or overvalue his hand in that situation. However, it’s better to make a standard continuation bet, disguising your range and making it difficult to play against you. While it is never fun to see your opponent quickly check-fold when you have the nuts, you must continuation-bet with premium hands to keep your continuation-betting range strong and balanced, especially against smart opponents.

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Heads-up as the Aggressor in Position in a Four-bet Pot Four-bet pots are similar to three-bet pots except both players will have relatively few chips behind. Also, both players’ ranges will be at least somewhat strong unless they’re both extreme LAGs. If you raise to $15 from your $600 stack at $2/$5 from late position, a LAG in the small blind makes it $50, you raise to $110 and the LAG calls, the pot will be $225, with remaining stacks of $490. If you make a $130 bet on the flop and your opponent calls, you will have less than a potsized bet going to the turn. This means you can check behind on one betting round and still easily get your entire stack in by the river. Note that some weaker opponents will four-bet to around $170 before the flop in the example above, creating a pot of $345 with $430 behind. While it’s usually good to build a large pot with strong hands, you do not want to force your opponent to continue only with strong hands, which will often occur when he faces a large re-raise before the flop. Large pre-flop bet sizes will lead to tricky post-flop situations where you almost pot-commit yourself with any bet size. Ideally, when you are bluffing, you want to be able to get away from your hand. Always think about how your pre-flop actions will alter possible flop situations. And only four-bet when you either expect to get value from crushing your opponent’s range, or to have a lot of fold equity either before or on the flop. To determine your flop action in a four-bet pot as the aggressor when checked to, first analyze the range with which your opponent would three-bet and then call your four-bet. Some players will five-bet or fold; they do not call four-bets. Out of position, this is often a good play because calling four-bets out of position with a wide range leads to many bad situations. Most tight or passive players only three-bet with premium hands in the first place, meaning they only call your four-bet with a range of premium hands. They usually five-bet A-A and K-K, so their calling range consists roughly of Q-Q, J-J, 10-10, A-K and A -Q . Knowing this, you should continuation-bet with your entire range on almost every flop because your opponent will fold a paired hand on an Ax-x or K-x-x board and will fold an unpaired hand on a low-card board. Your continuation bet will work about half the time because around half of your opponent’s range is pairs and the other half is unpaired hands. If you bet around half-pot, meaning you only need to make your opponent fold 25% of the time to show a profit, you will constantly scoop pots that do not belong to you with little risk. This profit doesn’t even include the times you actually make a strong hand. You should consider giving up a missed flop if the board consists of three Broadway cards without an A, such as K-J-10 or Q-J-10. Notice your opponent’s entire range has at least an open-ended straight draw on these boards. All your hands worse than top pair, top kicker are essentially bluffs or semi119

bluffs against tight or passive players because you expect them to only go all-in with better than top pair with a good kicker. If you somehow four-bet Q -6 against a TAG and he calls, you should usually ditch your hand if he check-raises on a Q-95 flop. It may be correct to check back against these players when you have some showdown value, but in reality, it will be difficult to profitably get to showdown with such shallow stacks. Usually, when you check back the flop with top pair, bad kicker, you are hoping to either get to showdown cheaply, which will not happen in this situation, or induce your opponent to bluff. A tight or passive opponent is unlikely to bluff, meaning you will frequently call off poorly with top pair when he applies pressure. Because of this, it is usually best to bet small with the intention of folding to a check-raise. If your opponent is a LAG or good TAG who three-bets with a wide range, then assuming he was offered compelling pot odds to call your four-bet with his drawing hands, you have to worry about many more flops. Most good players know to not call four-bets with big cards due to their reverse implied odds, so they will call four-bets with a range made up of premium hands and drawing hands. As usual, you should continuation-bet all flops that don’t consist of all middle cards. Even then, it is rarely a mistake to continuation-bet in four-bet pots because a continuation-bet bluff needs to work so infrequently to show a profit. However, if your opponent will often check-raise, consider checking back when you have a hand with a decent chance of improving, such as Q-J on 9-8-3. Your standard continuation-bet size should shrink as pots get larger. In four-bet pots, you can usually bet between 1/3- and 1/2-pot and be able to easily get your stack in by the river. Weak players often go all-in or make huge bets in four-bet pots, hoping to win the pot immediately with their premium holdings. This is the exact opposite of what you should do. You want to make relatively small bets, forcing your opponents to make incorrect folds with hands with some equity and roping them in with hands that you have crushed. Very few players lead into the pre-flop four-bettor. I cannot remember the last time I saw someone lead in this situation as a bluff. Weak players will usually call a four-bet pre-flop and jam all-in on flops they view as safe for their decent premium hand. Most players will show up with hands such as Q-Q on 8-6-3 or A-K on K-5-4. This is not the ideal way to play. Until you have reason to believe your opponent is frequently bluffing in this spot, you should fold unless you can beat a range made up of premium holdings. While you may assume no one would be so blatantly straightforward as to open-push into the four-bettor with their strongest hands, this simply is not the case, especially in small-stakes games. Unless you have a strong made hand, you should almost always fold when checkraised by a tight or passive player in a four-bet pot, unless you are confident he is capable of bluffing. For example, if you four-bet before the flop and get checkraised on a K-6-2 board, you should probably continue with A-K but fold K-J. You 120

will be in a tough spot with K-Q, but you should still probably fold. Tend not to fold when you make top pair against LAG opponents who may check-raise with a wide range of made hands, draws and the occasional bluff. You should often continue against the check-raise of a LAG even with a hand as weak as K-5 on a K7-6 board, due to the excellent pot odds, often as high as 3:1. You only need to win a small percentage of the time to show a profit, forcing you to continue against a wide range. LAGs typically make money by forcing their opponents to fold more than they should. Knowing this, you cannot fold hands near the top of your range unless you know your opponent is always tight in a specific situation. If you think your opponent is frequently bluffing but he always has the nuts, you must reassess the range you typically assign him. Constantly note how often your opponent is involved in four-bet pots. If he rarely plays them, he will likely have a tight range. If he is in them often, he is probably a LAG looking for creative ways to win pots that don’t belong to him. It is usually not wise to slow-play in four-bet pots against tight or passive players because they usually play very straightforwardly when a lot of money is in the pot. If they have something they deem reasonable on the flop, they will not fold it. If they have a weak hand, they will rarely bluff. The only time to consider slowplaying is when you flop a nearly unbeatable hand, such as a straight or set, in a situation where your opponent has a reasonable chance to make a strong secondbest hand, such as when you have 2-2 on 8-4-2 or J-10 on 9-8-7. Notice on both of these boards, your opponent likely has nothing but could easily have the bad luck to make top pair on the turn. You should be willing to risk the small chance of being outdrawn in these situations. Don’t slow-play with hands such as A-K on A-7-4 or J-J on 10-6-4. That will get you in a lot of trouble. Be more willing to slow-play with fairly strong hands against a LAG if you think he will bluff off his stack when you show weakness on the flop. If you have A-K on an A-7-4 board and your opponent will assume you never have an A when you check behind on the flop, checking becomes an amazing option because it will frequently result in your scooping his stack. Slow-playing loses much of its appeal if you don’t think your opponent will go crazy.

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Heads-up as the Aggressor in Position in a Five-bet Pot If you somehow put in five-bets pre-flop, you will have very few chips left to bet on the flop. Suppose you are playing $5/$10 with $1,500 stacks. Someone raises to $30, you make it $90, he re-raises to $240 and you make it $500. You will have one pot-sized bet remaining. At this point, you simply have to figure out how often your opponent will call if you bet and how much equity you have against his range. Clearly, most players will have very strong ranges in five-bet pots. So, you also want to have a strong range. To constantly get involved in five-bet pots with air is to light your bankroll on fire. When you five-bet before the flop against a tight or passive opponent, you should have a fairly clear idea of how you will proceed on the flop. Since your range should only be A-A and K-K, you don’t have much to worry about. Since your opponent elected to call your five-bet instead of push, he probably does not have A-A, so you can discount that from his range. Since your opponent’s range is squarely K-K, Q-Q, J-J and A-K, the only flop you should consider giving up on is Q-J-10, and you should probably not fold even then, since you’ll be getting 2:1 odds. If you have K-K on an A-x-x board, you should probably check and evaluate your opponent’s action. You should usually fold, but you can call if you get the vibe that your opponent would slow-play with an A and bet only with Q-Q and J-J. Against a LAG, you should still have a fairly tight range unless you are confident he will often four-bet and fold to a five-bet. Unless your opponent is a calling station, his range is probably strong when he calls your five-bet. If you have a strong range of A-A, K-K, Q-Q and A-K, any time you have top pair or better, you can either bet the flop for value if you believe your opponent will think you are bluffing, or check to induce a bluff, as you are not folding if your opponent bets at any point in the hand. If you have Q-Q and the flop comes K-x-x, you should probably check to induce a bluff. With K-K or Q-Q on an A-x-x board, you should either check-call or checkfold, depending on your opponent’s perceived range and bluffing frequency. The reason for checking is to force your opponent to stay in with his entire range. If you bet with K-K on an A-x-x board, your opponent will get off the hook with hands such as J-J. If you miss with A-K, you have a difficult decision between checking and betting. Notice with A-K, your opponent will almost always play correctly if you bet, rarely folding a better hand. However, checking with the intention of calling with A-K is rarely a strong option, hence it’s ideal to either bet or checkfold. If your range is wide because you decided to put in a rare five-bet bluff before the flop, you should probably bet any missed flop unless you are confident the flop is good for your opponent’s range. Your opponent likely won’t fold too often, but you should bet to keep your betting range somewhat balanced. If you only 122

continuation-bet in five-bet pots with strong hands, your opponent will realize that he can check-fold whenever he does not flop a premium hand. If he thinks you occasionally bluff, you will get paid off more often when you have the nuts. That being said, continuation-betting with air will often be a losing play because your opponent’s range should be strong. It is quite possible that five-betting pre-flop as a bluff with the intention of check-folding unless you flop the nuts is a winning play against someone who frequently four-bet bluffs but will fold to a five-bet unless he has a premium hand. This scenario sporadically occurs in high-stakes games. In five-bet pots on the flop as the aggressor, you can choose from two realistic bet sizes. You can either bet around 2/5 pot or go all-in for a full-pot bet. If you ever have bluffs in your range or if you want to allow your opponent a little room to bluff, you should bet 2/5 pot most of the time. If your range is only the nuts, you should still bet 2/5 pot to induce your opponent to stay in with a range of weaker made hands. Because of this, your standard bet size should be around 2/5 pot unless you only have around 2/3 pot remaining, in which case you should go all-in. You always want to leave yourself room to fold when you bluff, and you want to keep your opponent in the pot when you have a value hand. While you may be outdrawn from time to time because you allowed your opponent to cheaply stay in, these small bets will show a huge expectation. Suppose you bet 2/5 pot and your opponent check-raises all-in. Call with hands of value and fold with hands that are crushed. You will often be getting amazing odds, which you should certainly factor into the equation. When you make a continuation bet, you should have a clear idea of how you will proceed if checkraised. If you are unsure, checking behind on the flop is probably ideal. Some players always call off when they put in 60% of their stack, claiming they are potcommitted. In reality, if you have around 10% equity against your opponent’s range and you are not getting 9:1, you are not pot-committed. Calling off is a costly error. However, when you continuation-bet in five-bet pots, you should not be looking to fold too often. When your opponent leads into you in a five-bet pot, call if you have something good and fold if you don’t. If you have a hand such as Q-Q on a J-6-3 board against a tight player who only bets when he has a premium hand, you should probably fold if he leads because his range is likely A-A, K-K, Q-Q and J-J. You should make a crying call with K-K, expecting to win around 40% of the time. If your opponent is a LAG, you should probably call off with any top-pair hand or better, and perhaps a few weaker holdings if you think he would mostly lead with bluffs. Even though this is an extraordinarily rare situation, you should think about it and be ready when it occurs.

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Heads-up as the Aggressor out of Position Playing heads-up pots as the aggressor requires a slightly different strategy when out of position than when in position. Due to your lack of position, aggressive opponents can make your life tough on almost any board simply by calling or raising when you continuation-bet. If you check the flop, your opponent will be able to apply three streets of pressure versus only two streets when you are in position and check behind on the flop. Clearly, two large bets are much easier to call than three. Despite your positional disadvantage, a solid game plan will enable you to navigate this situation with relative ease.

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Facing a Caller The only way you can be in a single-raised, heads-up pot, out of position, as the aggressor is to raise and be called by a player in a later position. Since your opponent did not re-raise pre-flop, you should tend to discount premium hands from his range. To construct your opponent’s calling range, it is wise to consider whether his three-betting range is polarized. A player with a polarized three-betting range will have a calling range made up of mostly good, but not great hands. This is typically something like medium pairs, Broadway cards besides A-K and A-Q, A -X and suited connectors. This means that you will have a tough time continuing on most boards if your opponent applies pressure, because all boards could reasonably hit his pre-flop calling range. Notice any A-high board hits his A -X , a Q-10-4 board hits his high cards and a 6-4-3 board hits his suited connectors and small pairs. So, proceed with caution if your opponent shows interest in the pot. Still, you should often make a continuation bet on boards that don’t contain two or three high and middle cards. Notice that those flops are the only ones that really nail your opponent’s range. Your continuation-bet should typically be around 3/5 pot. This will give you a decent price on your bluff and will build a pot when you want to put money in on later streets. On boards containing mostly high and middle cards, checking is viable if you miss and you think the flop is good for your opponent’s calling range. However, if you only check with the intention of folding to a bet, observant opponents will quickly realize they can steal the pot whenever you check. Hence, you must add a combination of check-calling and check-raising hands to your range. Check-calling is reasonable with marginal hands, such as top pair with a weak kicker, but it generally turns your hand face-up, a disaster with deep stacks against competent competition. Check-raising is a strong line that typically gets respect unless your opponent thinks you are wild. Because of this, you usually shouldn’t check-raise with premium hands because your opponent will often fold. Of course, this should lead you to check-raise bluff from time to time. Since both check-calling and check-raising lead to awful situations because you are out of position, I prefer to continuation-bet with almost my entire range. I may lose a bit of equity by betting into boards that are good for my opponent’s range, but I am not losing much because those boards are also decent for my range. To get value from your best hands, you have to bet in a way that disguises your range. A continuation bet will usually be your default. Make that play with both strong and weak hands to balance your range and make it difficult to play against you. Against a straightforward opponent who only bets the flop with a pair or better when checked to, it could be ideal to check a lot of flops and then proceed aggressively on the turn if the flop checks through. This will provide cheap, 125

reasonably accurate information about your opponent’s hand, enabling you to bluff with greater success. Most opponents are not this weak, but there are exceptions in small- and medium-stakes games. Always adjust to your specific opponents and their tendencies. If your opponent three-bets with an unpolarized range, his calling range will tend to not include big pairs and big cards. Against such a player, you should continuation-bet most boards except those containing multiple middle cards, because those will usually hit his range. If most of your opponent’s range contains a J, 10, 9 or 8, and two of those cards arrive on the flop, it’s generally wise to give up when you miss. Again, checking only with the intention of folding will enable your opponent to rob you blind. Hence, you should often continuation-bet these boards with your entire range. Being out of position drastically limits your options. Without knowing your opponent’s tendencies, it’s difficult to determine a profitable way to proceed. It may feel dirty to continuation-bet almost every time out of position as the pre-flop raiser, but it will usually show a profit simply because your bluffs do not have to work too often. Your opponents will probably start playing back at you more frequently when you continuation-bet every time. This will open the door for you to profitably fire turn bluffs, and to three-bet the flop when raised. These are high-risk plays, but if your frequent continuation bets induce your opponent to bluff with a wide range, you will find yourself in amazingly profitable spots. The only true disaster when continuation-betting with a high frequency is to assume your aggressive opponents react to your bets in a straightforward manner. If your opponents actually are straightforward, you will show a large profit due to their folding too often on the flop to your relatively small continuation bets.

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When Raised When you continuation-bet the flop and get raised, you will usually be in a fairly marginal spot with your entire range unless your opponent is capable of raising the flop with an overly wide range. If you think your opponent will raise with a reasonably strong range consisting of top pair or better and draws, fold your marginal made hand, as you are either currently beat or will be unable to withstand pressure on future streets. Most tight, passive opponents only raise the flop with absolute monsters. If you have A-K on K-7-6 and you know your opponent will only raise with two pair or better, you have an easy fold. However, many weaker opponents will raise on the flop with any pair. They likely don’t know why they are raising, but they still do it. You can often call down with hands such as top pair against these players. As always, your play should depend entirely on your opponent’s range and tendencies. When raised on the flop, consider how your hand will play on future streets. If an aggressive opponent raises and you have a good, but not great hand, you should often fold because you won’t be able to call a turn bet in many cases. For example, with K -9 on 9 -7 -4 , you won’t be able to continue if a club, A, Q, J, 10, 8, 7, 6, 5 or 4 comes. It’s often best to immediately ditch what may be the current best hand if most future cards will lead to difficult situations. Don’t take this concept too far because some aggressive players will attack most flops they expect to be bad for your range. If you know your opponent will blindly go after you, you have to buckle up and prepare to call down, especially with hands as strong as top pair. Your aggressive opponents will view scary turn cards as excellent bluffing opportunities, in which case you should often call down even when the board runs out in a scary fashion. Poker is tough when an aggressive opponent raises on the flop. Be sure to put your opponents in difficult situations when the roles are reversed. With your draws, always make sure you are getting the proper immediate or implied pot odds to call. Calling is usually ideal if you are getting excellent immediate odds because you will profit in the long run regardless of whether you hit. Calling is usually fine with poor immediate odds and reasonable implied odds, but it’s more speculative because you don’t know if you will profit in the long run. You must consider whether your opponent will pay you off if you complete your draw on the turn. Lacking proper implied odds, you are usually best folding or raising, usually all-in, depending on the effective stack, to give yourself some fold equity. Folding is much better if you suspect your opponent will call an all-in. Don’t be afraid to pull the trigger and push if you think it will get him off most of his made hands. For example, 10 -7 on 9 -8 -4 is much better than A -2 on K -J -10 . Your straight outs are fairly well concealed with 10 -7 , whereas your flush and 127

straight outs are obvious with A -2 . When your outs are not obvious, calling is usually fine because you will get paid off frequently when you hit. If your outs are obvious, it is often better to re-raise on the flop when you can easily and somewhat happily get all-in. You may not want to blast in 100 or more big blinds on the flop, but if both calling and folding are bad options, re-raising is the only sensible play when you have a draw with lots of equity and you won’t get paid off if you hit. You generally want to be somewhat balanced with your entire premium range, consisting of both strong made hands and strong draws. Suppose, with 100-big blind stacks, you make a standard pre-flop raise to 3 big blinds, get called by the button and continuation-bet 3/5 pot on the flop, meaning you bet around 4 big blinds into the 7-big blind pot. If your opponent raises to 12 big blinds, your only options with the obvious draws are to re-raise to around 28 big blinds with the intention of calling off, or to go all-in. It doesn’t matter which play you make as long as you are consistent. In a vacuum, you would prefer to go all-in with your draws to get maximum fold equity, and to re-raise to 28 big blinds with your premium made hands, hoping to get called by numerous worse made hands, but playing strictly that way will telegraph your hand to observant opponents. I like to reverse these plays, going all-in with my made hands and re-raising small with my draws, if I’m playing against good, but not great opponents who will assume an all-in means a draw and a small re-raise indicates a premium made hand. These players become incapable of folding hands such as a strong top pair or an overpair when they put you squarely on a draw. Clearly, if your opponent will assume you have only drawing hands in your range, you do not want to include those hands. Against strong competition, it’s best to use one play, probably reraising to 28 big blinds, with your entire re-raising range, which should include strong draws, strong made hands and the occasional bluff. A straightforward player will only raise the flop when he has no intention of folding to further aggression, hence it’s pointless to bluff such a player. However, you should occasionally bluff re-raise the flop against aggressive opponents. Your re-raise does not have to be too large, because your opponents will usually fold when they have nothing and continue when they have a strong hand. You can bluff re-raise with any kind of hand, although I like to have some equity, usually a gutshot or strong backdoor flush draw and overcards. For example, J -10 on 9 -7 -2 is a fine hand to re-raise if your opponent raises your continuation bet on the flop. You can easily fold to a jam, assuming you do not think your opponent’s range is so wide that you are getting the proper odds to call or even re-raise. You could also reasonably re-raise the 9 -7 -2 flop with A -3 or K -5 . You shouldn’t get too far out of line in these spots, but you need to fight back if your opponents are insanely aggressive on scary boards. Against opponents you expect to be going wild, consider re-raising with hands such as top pair, top kicker for value, with the intention of getting in. The strength of 128

hands you need to get all-in diminishes greatly with increasing aggression, both yours and your opponent’s. Constantly evaluate how your aggressive opponent views you and how he expects you to continue with various parts of your range. If he thinks you will fold everything besides overpairs or better and strong draws, you should continue with a wider range. If he thinks you will never fold middle pair or better and will frequently bluff, he probably will have a fairly strong range when he applies aggression. Poker becomes a huge leveling war once everyone becomes good at the game. Luckily, this is not yet the case in all small- and middle-stakes games. The previous few paragraphs may get some less observant readers in a lot of trouble. Almost all of your opponents at the small and medium stakes will be fairly passive and straightforward. Bluff-raising them on the flop is usually terrible because they are re-raising only with the intention of getting all-in. Do not level yourself into thinking your opponents are making plays when they clearly are not. Some weaker opponents raise drastically larger with premium hands than with reasonably strong hands and draws. For example, some min-raise with nut hands and to around three times your bet with hands such as top pair. Once you have figured this out, you can proceed intelligently against each specific range. Some players even raise larger with decent made hands, such as top pair, intending to fold if you apply additional pressure. They are “trying to find out where they are at.” If you can make your opponents fold top pair on a regular basis, you should make that happen until they figure out what you are doing. Always pay attention to bet sizing, especially from mediocre opponents, who often turn their hands face-up. I want to reiterate that if your opponent will frequently raise your flop continuation bet or bet when you check, strongly consider checking the flop with the intention of calling down with a wide range of made hands, and continuationbetting with your best and worst hands. Obviously, you need to balance your range by check-folding. Otherwise, your opponent may notice that you call on both the turn and river whenever you check-call the flop, and will adjust by only bluffing the flop with the intention of giving up on later streets. I wish I could lay out a nice, simple game plan for playing out of position, but I can’t, because both your and your opponent’s frequencies and tendencies greatly determine how you should act. Always think ahead to figure out how the hand will likely play out, given each specific action. Try to find the betting line that causes your opponent to make the most errors.

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Re-raised Pots It is difficult to be the aggressor in a re-raised pot when out of position. This only occurs when someone raises, you re-raise, someone cold-calls from a later position and the initial raiser folds. In high-stakes games, you rarely see someone cold-call a re-raise unless the stacks are deep, because most players recognize it’s much better to four-bet or fold with their entire range. People often cold-call re-raises in small-stakes games. These callers either want to see the flop with a wide range or think their hand is strong, but too weak to re-raise. Continuation-bet almost every time against someone who calls with a wide range, such as medium pairs, A -X , suited connectors and random suited cards, hoping to get lucky and flop well, because he will frequently miss the flop. Your continuation bet can be as small as 2/5 pot, because your opponent will usually only continue when he thinks he’s flopped a strong hand. If he continues and he is not a calling station, assume he has a reasonably strong hand, perhaps middle pair with a strong kicker or better, and proceed accordingly. Against someone who calls with only with hands he perceives as good but too weak to four-bet, such as medium pairs, A-K and A-Q, you should continuation-bet flops that are not good for his range, which will be most of them. Consider checking on Q-J-X and J-10-X, but firing out a small continuation bet is usually ideal even then, because you will be getting such an amazing price when you are bluffing and you don’t mind if your opponent continues when you actually flop a strong hand. Always think about your opponent’s range and how you fare against it. Don’t assume two opponents have the same range in similar situations. They could be drastically different. You should almost always continuation-bet in this situation, but consider checking when you miss if you think your opponent will never bluff you, giving you frequent success when you make a delayed continuation bet on the turn. Alternatively, when you flop a reasonably strong hand, consider checking if you think your opponent will attack if you check but play straightforwardly if you continuation-bet, and let him bluff off on future streets. To sum up, if you know how your opponent will act in a specific situation and you want that result, take a line that will make it happen, even if it is not your default play. Do not be scared to think outside of the box from time to time. Getting creative is often how you will drastically improve at the game. Facing a raise to your continuation-bet when out of position as the aggressor in a re-raised pot, assume your opponent has a fairly strong hand and act accordingly. You will usually face a flop raise to around 25 big blinds, or possibly all-in, meaning little money is left to go in the pot. You need a reasonably strong hand to continue when your opponent is nearly all-in. But be a bit more willing to continue with fairly marginal hands and the occasional semi-bluff if you think your opponent 130

will aggressively attack you because he expects you to almost always continuationbet. It is usually best to call an aggressive opponent’s raises with the entire range with which you plan to continue. It’s generally fine to go all-in with your draws and strong, but susceptible made hands, such as decent overpairs, especially if you are getting poor pot odds with your draws. While you would prefer to only go all-in with draws, you must mix some strong hands into that range so you don’t turn your hand face-up whenever you raise instead of call. Consider mixing the occasional draw into your calling range to make it more difficult to play against you.

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Four-bet Pots You will be in a four-bet pot as the aggressor, out of position when you raise, someone in later position re-raises, you four-bet and your opponent calls. Against a tight player who only three-bets with strong hands, you need a very strong range to four-bet, namely A-A, K-K, and possibly A-K or Q-Q. In this case, you should continuation-bet most flops, although it’s also fine to check and make intelligent decisions on A-X-X when you have K-K or Q-Q. If you continuation-bet when you think you have your opponent crushed, you should bet around 1/3 pot; you don’t mind giving him excellent pot odds because he will be drawing thin. If you bet and he raises, continue only with a strong hand – top pair with top kicker or better – since your weak, passive opponent is rarely bluffing. That said, some players will call a four-bet with Q-Q and push on K-X-X because they don’t know what to do with their hand. Consider your opponent’s nature and what he is thinking. Against a loose, aggressive player who you expect to three-bet frequently, you have to four-bet with a somewhat wide range to combat his aggressive re-raising strategy. This will lead your opponent to either stop three-betting so often, five-bet more often or call your four-bets and see flops, especially in position. When your opponent decides to call and take a flop in position, you will often be in a tricky situation. If he calls your flop continuation bet and you have nothing, you will usually have only one bet left to go in on the turn, making an additional bluff quite risky. You can check-call or check-raise with a fair number of hands to avoid being out of position in a huge pot with air, but checking allows your opponent to simply bet small and put you in a bad spot. Checking allows him to make a cheap bluff with relatively little risk. If he bets and you want to continue, you still have to put in a significant amount of money. The ideal strategy here is to make a small continuation bet of around 1/3 pot, with the intention of betting small again on a fair number of turns, especially when you either gain equity on the turn, the turn is good for your range or it is bad for your opponent’s range. Suppose, for example, you raise with A -3 out of your 100-big blind stack, a loose, aggressive player re-raises to 8 big blinds, you four-bet to 20 big blinds and he calls. The flop comes J -7 -5 . While this flop is certainly good for your opponent’s range, I would still bet around 16 big blinds. Your opponent will frequently call. If he does, you should bet around 20 big blinds on almost every turn. Your opponent will be getting excellent odds, but he now must assume you will often put the rest of your stack in on the river. You will be surprised how often a normally aggressive player will tighten up when he thinks you want to put a lot of money in the pot. I should make clear that I normally play my premium hands in the exact same manner to remain balanced. Of course, if I expect my opponent to try to steal the pot every time I check on the turn, I will bet with air and check with strength. On the river, I will usually bet with my premium hands and give up with 132

air, but very few hands get to the river, which is fine because you will be bluffing more often than not. Again, to fire out this bluff, you have to know your opponent is capable of fourbetting, calling a three-bet and calling a flop bet with a weak range. If you try this play against an amateur who only three-bets with strong hands and only calls fourbets with premium hands, this play will be burning money. If you make your standard flop continuation bet and an aggressive player raises, you have to determine how your hand fares against his range. This is easy when he goes all-in. Call with anything decent and fold if you have nothing. Things get a bit trickier when he offers you amazing pot odds by making a tiny raise. Despite the pot odds, once the pot gets huge (it will be over 50 big blinds at this point) you should tend to go all-in or fold unless you are confident your opponent will randomly bluff off his stack even when he thinks you have some sort of made hand. It isn’t too big of a deal to turn your hand face-up if your opponent will still blindly attack it. You are in an excellent situation when you both know you have a mediocre made hand but you know you will never fold to further aggression and your opponent thinks you will always fold. You will occasionally four-bet with a hand such as A -3 , make a continuation bet on a board such as A -10 -4 and then face a raise. This is one of your more difficult spots, as it is tough for your opponent to be bluffing and at the same time, he could easily have decided to play a draw or worse made hand in an aggressive manner. While it’s best to assess your opponent’s range and play accordingly, the more wild he is, the more inclined you should be to call with the intention of calling down most of the time. You should clearly fold if a tight player raises you on this board. A tight, passive player who raises you on the flop in any sort of significant pot is rarely bluffing. Hands such as top pair with a bad kicker are total trash in this case, unless your opponent is known to overvalue strong pre-flop hands even on a bad board, such as K-K on A-7-4. Do not fall in love with your hand simply because you’ve connected reasonably well with the flop. When you run a semi-bluff before the flop, unless you flop two pair or better, your hand is usually junk if a tight or passive player applies pressure.

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Five-bet Pots The only way to be the aggressor, out of position, in a five-bet pot is when someone raises, you re-raise, someone in later position four-bets, the initial raiser folds and you five-bet. I can count on one hand the number of times this has happened to me. If you put in a five-bet, only a small amount of money will remain to go in on the flop. While you should certainly have a premium hand at this point, it is probably best to go all-in with your entire range, assuming you have around 2/3 pot or less. With more than that remaining, a smaller bet of around ¼ pot is ideal, with the intention of betting again on the turn. If you’re in this spot with air, you should probably make the same ¼-pot flop bet and give up if called. That being said, if you frequently find yourself in this spot, you probably have a better idea of how to play it than I do, because I’ve rarely been there. Recognize whether you actually know a situation or are just guessing. Lots of poker players exude a huge amount of blind confidence. Do not fall prey to thinking you are good purely because you have decent results. Realize the weaknesses in your game. Do not think you know how to play all situations simply because you can play most. Since I’ve rarely played in a five-bet pot, out of position, as the aggressor, I realize I have no idea how to play this spot based on actual results. My suggestions are entirely guesses, although I imagine the simple strategy outlined above will be effective unless you know your opponent will likely only have a slow-played A-A or K-K in his range. If that is the case, you should clearly checkfold unless you can beat those premium pairs.

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Heads-up as the Caller in Position Single-raised Pots Single-raised pots, in position as the caller, come in two main varieties that require drastically different strategies. When you call a raise before the flop, you should have some idea of how you will continue on various flops. First, I will discuss how to play when your opponent continuation-bets, and then how to play when he checks. Against a player with a tight range, you are usually looking to flop something that can, or has the potential to, beat top pair. Against someone with a loose range, you hope to either flop a strong hand or to win the pot by bluffing after the flop. Your opponent will generally have a tight range if he has raised from early position, or if he is a tight player overall. Your opponent will have a loose range if he has raised from late position, or if he is a loose player overall. Constantly assess your opponent’s range. Play your hand based on how you expect him to react to that play. Below is my general game plan for this standard situation, which you will frequently encounter. Don’t be afraid to mix up your play and get out of line. If you play every hand the same way every time, even unobservant opponents will figure out what you are doing. Don’t hesitate to occasionally take abnormal lines to fool your opponents.

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When Facing a Continuation Bet from a Tight Range You should usually fold to a continuation bet when you miss the flop against someone with a tight range, especially on boards that are not good for your perceived range. You will almost always have the worst hand, and your opponent will seldom fold to pressure. You will occasionally call a tight player’s raise with a hand such as 5 -4 , flop A -K -5 and have to fold to a continuation bet, although you could call in that situation. You should usually fold also to various bad draws, such as J -10 on A -K -4 . There’s nothing wrong with folding if you think your opponent has a strong holding and you have nothing. Tend to call with hands that are probably good but are not good enough to raise for value, such as A-10 on A-Q-6. You can also call with hands such as middle pair, and occasionally strong overcards, such as A -Q on 9 -4 -3 . With all of these hands, you expect to have the best hand some of the time, and also a few outs to improve. If you call on the flop and your opponent bets again on the turn, consider folding your marginal made hands if you think he will rarely bet the turn without a premium holding, and call down if you think he will check with strong hands and bet with bluffs. Also consider calling with various decent draws, such as flush draws, eight-out straight draws and gutshots with additional equity, such as overcards or backdoor flush draws. These hands tend to be behind at the moment, but usually have reasonable equity. If your opponent checks to you on the turn, you will often have an excellent opportunity to steal the pot by betting. Calling with these draws is essentially floating with reasonable equity. You should rarely float with the intention of checking down unless you are certain that your opponent tends to have a good hand when he checks the turn, hoping to trap you. Even then, if you bet the turn with a semi-bluff, you stand to win a huge pot if you hit on the river, making this play acceptable. Notice, however, that it’s seldom a good idea to float against such an opponent, because you will have a tough time continuing on the turn. I am not a big proponent of raising the flop for protection with marginally strong hands, such as top or middle pair, because raising the flop frequently causes your opponent to fold hands that are worse than top pair with a good kicker. If you raise with middle pair and your opponent calls with top pair, that is not going to work out too well for you. You are much better off calling with middle pair, hoping to induce your opponent to overvalue a worse hand on the turn, bluff with air or give you accurate information by check-folding the turn. Perhaps the biggest leak of tight, straightforward amateurs is to overplay marginal made hands by blasting money in on the flop. Do not commit this error. While you will occasionally be outdrawn when you call, and will also face tricky turn and river decisions, calling typically leads to much more profitable scenarios. Raise the flop for value with hands that crush your opponent’s value-betting 136

range when he can likely call with a worse made hand. For example, raising a continuation bet with 10-9 on 9-5-2 is probably not a good idea against a tight range because your opponent will only call when he has you in bad shape. Raising with 2-2 would be reasonable, although calling could be better because your opponent will likely be drawing dead, and if he has overcards and pairs on the turn, he will often assume he has the best hand. On the other hand, if you think your opponent will only continuation-bet the flop when he has something he thinks is strong, raising with a set is definitely a good idea because he probably has an overpair or top pair and will never release it. Simply put, raise with premium hands if you think your opponent has something and can easily call with worse hands. Always raise to an amount that allows you to get the money in either on the turn or river. If your opponent bets around 2/3 pot, then raising to around 2.5 times that amount should enable you to get the money in by the river. Whether value-betting or bluffing, you want to be able to go all-in by the river. Against more aggressive opponents who continuation-bet frequently but play straightforwardly once they’re raised, you can raise with mediocre hands to “find out where you are at” if you are confident you’ll get accurate information. This may be the case in small-stakes games, but as you move up, your opponents will do their best to fool you. For example, raising with K -8 on K -J -9 in a small-stakes game could be a good idea, especially if your opponent will call your raise with a J or draw, but making this play at high stakes would usually be burning money. In a high-stakes game, you should probably call the flop and see what develops, also calling the turn and river when the board does not get significantly worse. Always think about how your hand will play on future streets and act accordingly. You can also raise the flop as a bluff, usually a semi-bluff, but players with a tight range will tend not to fold. Hence, it’s usually better to float the flop with your draws. You can occasionally attack weaker opponents who continuation-bet often on boards that are awful for their range, such as 8 -7 -5 and 9 -6 -6 . This play is rather risky, but you will almost always win the pot if you know you can get your opponent to fold an overpair by the river, and this will usually be most of his range. If you raise the flop and your tight opponent re-raises, continue only with a premium hand or when you are getting the correct odds with a draw. Very few tight players are capable of re-raising worse than A-K on a board such as K-10-2. Some players only have K-K, 10-10, 2-2 or K-10 when they re-raise in this situation. However, if your hand is good enough to risk your stack, it is probably smart to put the money in, as your opponent will rarely fold.

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When Facing a Continuation Bet from a Loose Range Facing a continuation bet from a loose range, you should bluff much more often than against a tight range, because your opponent will have an acceptably strong hand less often. That being said, there is no harm in folding when you have absolutely nothing. Calling is a good idea with mediocre hands, such as top pair with a marginal kicker, middle pair or A-high on 6-2-2, because you will have a tough time continuing if you raise and are called or re-raised. Your general plan should be to continue on safe turn cards and evaluate the action on scary turns. If your opponent checks the turn, you should probably bet for both value and protection. Consider calling with marginal draws, such as J-10 on 9-7-3 and 7-6 on K-5-4. You could also raise with these, although it is nice to have at least some draws in your calling range. You could call with stronger draws, but raising is usually better due to their significant equity. Look to raise the flop with a nice mix of value hands, namely two pair or better, reasonably strong draws and the occasional bluff. Raise the flop to around 2.5 times your opponent’s raise unless another size makes it easier to get stacks in, or if a particular size might induce your opponent to act in a way that helps you. You are trying to get money in with your premium hands. With strong draws you are trying to increase fold equity and to allow yourself to win a large pot if you hit. Premium holdings, draws included, are usually fairly simple to play. Clearly defined bluff-raising situations do not occur often. You should certainly not bluff the same player in the same situation every time. While bluffing scary boards such as 6 -5 -4 is usually a good idea, your opponent will catch on if you do this every time. Randomly mix in bluffs when you have a read that your opponent’s hand is not strong. This can be a bet-sizing or physical tell. You may also do this because you haven’t bluffed in a while, leading your opponent to think you are less creative than you are. Depending on your opponent, it is often best to attack either dry or coordinated boards. Some opponents look at draw-heavy boards and assume you must have a reasonably strong hand with equity. Others view those boards as good bluffing opportunities due to the numerous hands you can represent. Some look at dry boards, such as K -7 -3 , and assume you must have the nuts if you raise, whereas others think it is impossible for you to raise with a legitimate hand. When you are bluffing, figure out what your opponent thinks is strong and do that. Paired boards are always fun spots for a bluff because it is so difficult for your opponent to have an overly strong hand. For example, on 6 -4 -4 , if you can reasonably hold a 4, you can raise your opponent’s flop bet, bet the turn when he checks, and shove on the river. You want to be able to play a 4 in this way to get maximum value, so consider bluffing in this spot as well, assuming your opponent 138

is not a calling station on the river. Some of the best boards to attack are paired boards made up of middle cards, as those connect with significantly more of your range than your opponent’s, and the best hand your opponent can have is a bluff catcher. When you raise your loose opponent’s continuation bet and he re-raises, you should usually give him credit for a strong hand unless you know he is overly aggressive. If he usually has the goods when he re-raises the flop, tend to call with draws when you’re getting proper odds, and with premium made hands unless the board is very draw-heavy. It is usually best to push in the last case, as draws will then make up a significant portion of your opponent’s range. You should almost always fold when bluffing.

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When Your Opponent Checks A player with a tight range usually checks the flop, intending either to fold because he missed, or to call down, at least on the flop, with a marginal made hand. Identify which type of player you face and act accordingly. Bet around 2/3 pot on the flop when you bluff an opponent who tends to check only when he fails to connect. If he calls, you should probably fire again on the turn. This is speculative, as some opponents will release when they miss on the flop but call all the way down with marginal made hands. You should probably check back the flop if you flop a strong hand, hoping your opponent will overvalue his hand, or make a small bet, hoping to keep him in by offering decent pot odds. If he checks to you in either situation on the turn, you should probably continue making small bets of around 2/5 pot if you want to remain balanced. When you miss against an opponent who is known to check with a marginal made hand, such as A-2 or K-K on A-8-3, you should either give up and check the hand down, or be willing to fire a three-barrel bluff. It feels like a high-risk play, but if you know your opponent will always call your flop and turn bets, but fold to your river bet, assuming you must have a strong A to bet three streets, this is a very lowrisk bluff that will work except when your opponent improves by the river. I mix up my play in this situation, usually giving up the first time. If your opponent sees that he can check down with top pair with a bad kicker and win, he will be much more likely to assume your bets must be strong when you pile money in the pot in the future. With your strong hands against this type of opponent, it is usually best to check back the flop and then bet the turn and river, as he will probably think his mediocre made hand is good and you are trying to bluff him out of the pot or get value from a worse made hand. Some tight players will always check-call down with A-2 on A-8-3-K-J, especially in small-stakes games. Bluffing is a terrible idea against these players. It’s fine to give up with the worst hand if your opponent will never fold to your bets. Be more than willing to bet three streets for value with hands such as A-Q against those players. Some better players mix various hands into their check-calling range, such as bottom pair, middle pair, top pair, premium made hands and draws. Against someone who has a wide check-calling range, tend to value-bet most of your made hands and check back when you miss, because these opponents will rarely fold. They often recognize you will bet when they check to you, and will defend accordingly. Checking the flop is a particularly good strategy against someone who will play straightforwardly against continuation bets but overly aggressively if you check to him. Check-calling down can turn middle pair into a huge winning hand against some opponents. Do not fall prey to this strategy. You should tend to give a check-raising opponent credit for a strong hand unless 140

he is overly aggressive or is capable of a check-raise bluff. Against tight opponents, simply fold. They were trying to trap you and they think they succeeded. I almost always fold to these check-raises unless I know my opponent may be overvaluing a marginal made hand and I have a reasonably strong made hand. You must be willing to call down or re-raise bluff from time to time against aggressive opponents who are capable of check-raising with a wide range of hands. An opponent who regularly takes a specific line that is normally reserved for premium hands must be bluffing sometimes. While bluffing in this spot is fairly risky due to your opponent’s likely polarized range, you should do it if he is constantly checkraising the flop. But don’t get too far out of line.

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Heads-up as the Caller in Position in Re-raised Pots To be in position as the caller in a re-raised pot, you have to raise, someone in the blinds must re-raise and you have to call. As with single-raised pots, your strategy depends on your opponent’s re-raising range.

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When Facing a Continuation Bet From a Tight Range As usual, when you flop nothing and your opponent continuation-bets, you should get out of the way unless you are confident your opponent also has nothing. This is usually tough to tell, and is difficult to exploit unless you are somewhat regularly willing to put your stack in as a stone bluff. Tend to fold also with hands such as bottom pair and bad gutshot draws. I advise folding when you miss in a re-raised pot against someone who has a tight re-raising range. Calling is tricky because you can call to trap with the nuts, to see how the turn develops and as a float. When you flop a hand that is almost certainly good at the moment and is unlikely to get much worse, such as A-K on K-X-X or 2-2 on K-8-2, you should almost certainly call in re-raised pots. The pot will then be huge, and even if you only put one more bet in the pot, usually after your opponent checks the turn and you check behind, you will still be able to reasonably go all-in on the river. You should call instead of raising with a hand that is essentially the nuts because you want to allow your opponent to either catch up to a second-best hand or to overvalue a mediocre hand. Raising the flop can easily cause him to fold his air, and perhaps his mediocre made hands. This would be a disaster because he is drawing almost dead and would certainly give you further action if you slowplayed. You can also call with mediocre hands, such as A-J or K-Q on A-Q-6, and A-9 or 8-8 on 9-5-2. It is difficult to raise and get much value in these spots, but you are often ahead. You may also find opportunities to fold some of your marginal made hands on the turn or river, which isn’t so bad because you will also have the nuts in your calling range. This will allow you to check down frequently with marginal hands and win at showdown without too much fear of being bluffed on a regular basis. Consider calling as a float against straightforward opponents who will check the turn with the intention of giving up if you apply pressure. If you feel like being a bit passive because you think your opponent’s flop betting range is overly strong or he is susceptible to a float, you can call with your good draws, although those are usually best kept in your raising range. You would prefer to raise with your good draws, because you want to maximize your fold equity. However, if you are only raising with good draws, your opponent will surmise that you are only raising as a semi-bluff. This should lead you to add some nut hands into your raising range. Lean towards adding more nut hands to your raising range, as there are more draws on the flop. This helps balance your range and protects you from various draws your opponent could have. The pot will usually be large enough so that you should go all-in, although you may be able to make a small raise if the previous bet sizes have been tiny or the stacks are deep. If you raise the flop less than all-in for value or as a semi-bluff, you will almost 143

always be getting the right price to call if your opponent shoves. Don’t be the guy who puts in half his stack with a draw and then folds because he knows he is behind. You should occasionally raise the flop as a stone bluff, but only against the most habitual continuation-bettors, who will fold almost their entire range if you push. Since most players with tight ranges have few bluffs in their ranges, raising the flop as a bluff usually is not wise.

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When Facing a Continuation Bet from a Loose Range As usual, you should generally fold when you completely miss the flop against a reraiser with a loose range. You can also fold bad made hands, such as bottom pair and bad gutshots, although both calling as a float and raising as a semi-bluff become marginally attractive. My advice for calling is similar to when you are against a tight range, except you should call down with slightly weaker made hands because your opponent’s range won’t be quite as strong. You can also float more often, especially if your opponent thinks you call with both premium and fairly strong made hands, because a player who is not overly aggressive will tend to give up when you call his flop bet. I almost always float the flop with hands such as a gutshot with an overcard. Even if your opponent bets again on the turn, you will likely be paid off with a strong hand in the future because he now knows you will float the flop and fold to a turn bet. You can consider bluffing against loose players although, again, you will be nearly all-in, making this a high-risk play. Just because your opponent has a loose range does not mean he is going to miss the flop every time. Unlike some bluffing situations where your opponent’s betting patterns indicate he likely has a weak range, here you are blindly bluffing, preying purely on your opponent’s overly aggressive tendencies. While this play will work sometimes, it is best employed after you have developed an image that will likely make it successful. As with most high-risk bluffs, strict moderation is the key.

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When Your Opponent Checks When your opponent checks, he is either giving up because he has nothing, checking to call once and fold to additional pressure, usually with a marginal made hand, or checking to call down with a marginal or premium made hand. If you know your opponent continuation-bets every time he thinks he has a good hand and checks whenever he has nothing, you should certainly take a stab at the pot. Remember, in re-raised pots, your bet size need not be too large. I tend to bet around 2/5 pot on most flops, which will set up a turn bet at a modest price when it fails. If your opponent is checking with hands such as J-J on A-7-4, bet around 2/5 pot on the flop and bluff all-in on the turn if you think you can make him fold. It’s usually best to check back the turn and bet the river with value hands, as your opponent may then make a crying call. Remain balanced against good opponents, sticking mostly to one line or the other. If your opponent is checking to call down, simply check down when you have a worse hand than you expect him to have, and value-bet the whole way with strong hands if you think your opponent will call with a worse hand, hopefully getting allin by the river. Do not be scared to go for three streets of value with hands such as A-K on K-10-5-3-7. Your opponent will happily call down with hands such as KQ, K-J, Q-Q, J-J or A-10. Of course, few opponents will play this straightforwardly. They will usually check a somewhat balanced range. I usually bet the flop in this case, and continue barreling on scary turns. If a small bet will give you a decent chance to pick up the pot with nothing, it is usually a good idea to go for it.

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Heads-up as the Caller in Position in Four-bet Pots You will be in position as the caller in a four-bet pot when someone raises, you reraise, he four-bets and you call. This occurs rather often when your opponent fourbets small or when stacks are deep. As always, your strategy should depend on your opponent’s four-betting range. When you call a four-bet pre-flop, you are usually doing it with either the intention of trapping with a premium hand or hoping to connect well enough with the flop to justify putting all of your money in by the river. You could also float before the flop occasionally, intending to take the pot on the flop, but that is quite risky.

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When Facing a Continuation Bet When you call a four-bet in position, you will usually have a strong hand before the flop or will be trying to flop one. Fold when you have nothing on the flop, unless you think a raise may get your opponent off most of his range, usually on a board such as 9 -8 -7 , or if you can float and win the pot on the turn if your opponent checks. If you call a small pre-flop four-bet with a hand such as 9 -8 and the flop comes K -Q -8 , folding to a continuation bet is acceptable unless you are facing a tiny bet, offering you excellent odds to draw to two pair or trips. Don’t be constantly calling continuation bets on boards that are marginally good for your hand but excellent for your opponent’s range. Tend to call on the flop when you have a somewhat strong, but still marginal made hand, such as A-J on J-9-6 or A-10-4. Don’t raise with this hand because your opponent will typically only call your raise, which will usually be fairly large by this point, with a better hand. You will have mostly marginal made hands in your calling range, so include some premium hands as well as the occasional float. The ideal hand for raising the flop is a strong draw and because of this, you should also raise the flop with premium hands. You would love to be able to bluff frequently in this spot, especially against players with loose pre-flop four-betting ranges, but it is often better to stay somewhat in line because the price of failure is huge. However, if you’re getting four-bet frequently, you must adjust by five-betting pre-flop or occasionally running a large post-flop bluff, especially if your opponent thinks you play overly straightforwardly when you call a four-bet in position.

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When Your Opponent Checks A player who checks to you in a four-bet pot is usually either trying to check-call down with a marginal made hand, to check-fold with air or to allow you to bluff off your stack when he has a strong hand. The optimal strategy here is very playerdependent. Weak players tend to check-fold or check-call one street with marginal made hands, and then fold to a significant turn bet, assuming you must have the nuts if you are willing to put your stack in. Advanced players will have a more balanced range including air, marginal made hands and premium hands. I like to make a small stab of about ¼ pot on the flop and then bet around 1/2 pot on the turn with most of my range. This gives me an excellent price on my bluffs while building a pot when I actually have a value hand. Once the pot gets large, it is rarely a disaster to win it with no contest.

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Heads-up as the Caller in Position in Five-bet Pots You will be in position as the caller in a five-bet pot when you raise, someone reraises from the blinds, you four-bet, the re-raiser five-bets and you call. This will rarely occur, as you will usually be nearly all-in, unless both you and your opponent put in miniscule re-raises. Your opponent will generally either go all-in on the flop or make a bet that puts most of his stack in the pot. Call when you expect to have enough equity based on the pot odds. Both your and your opponent’s ranges will usually be super tight unless your opponent is an absolute maniac, which could easily be the case. If you’re often in this situation with marginal holdings, you are probably making fairly large blunders before the flop. If your opponent checks to you, you should usually check back with most of your range, especially with just one bet left to put in the pot. If you have air and your opponent checks to you on the turn, consider going all-in, or possibly checking back one more time and bluffing the river. If you check back the flop and your opponent bets, it’s fine to give him the pot, as he was likely attempting to trap you on the flop. When he shows weakness twice or thrice, he probably has air and is looking to concede the pot. If you have a premium hand, you should probably bet the turn or the river, depending on the board texture and also which bet you think will give you the best chance of getting called by a worse hand. As the board becomes more coordinated, it becomes less of a disaster to simply pick up the pot with a bet, even if you probably have the best hand.

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Heads-up as the Caller out of Position Single-raised Pots Quite often, someone will raise and you will call from one of the blinds. This usually means you do not have a premium pre-flop hand, as you will typically reraise with those for value. Despite this, you will usually have decent potential to flop well, which should lead you to bluff from time to time when you miss, assuming your opponent will continuation-bet with a wide range of both strong and weak hands. As usual, when you have absolutely nothing, you should generally check with the intention of folding if your opponent bets. Floating out of position with draws or overcards is a realistic option, but it is hard to pick up the pot on a later street without taking a suspicious line, especially if your opponent plays well. I tend not to float out of position unless I have a clear idea of how to take my opponent off most of his range on a later street. You should usually check-call from out of position when you have a hand of value you think will do poorly if you raise and receive further action. Weak players commonly check-raise with hands such as top pair with a marginal kicker, but those hands are much better off check-called. This forces your opponent to stay in the pot with his entire range whereas raising allows him to fold all his air. With a strong, but not amazing, made hand, do everything you can to force your opponent to stay in while drawing thin. To be somewhat balanced, you should also check-call with premium hands from time to time. Otherwise, a check-call will signal to your opponent that you have, at best, a marginal made hand. With only marginal made hands in your check-calling range, your opponent will be able to easily extract maximum value from you every time he has you beat. Make it a point to sporadically check-call with some draws, although you usually prefer to raise with them to maximize your fold equity. Call when you are getting an excellent price to chase your draw because your opponent made a small bet, and when he will likely pay you off on later streets if you complete your draw, such as with 9 -6 on 8 -7 -2 . Tend to check-raise with draws when your are not getting a good price to chase because your opponent made a large bet, or when you expect not to be paid off if you hit, such as with A -4 on K -J -10 . Check-raise for value with premium hands most of the time if you think your opponent has a reasonably strong hand he will be unable to fold. There is no point to check-raising if your opponent probably has nothing, because he will simply fold. If you know he has almost no equity, you do not want to let him fold. While check-calling with a strong hand will often result in the turn checking through, it is worth it in order to possibly get action on the river. Leading into the pre-flop raiser is a reasonable option. However, I rarely do so 151

because it’s nearly impossible to balance. While it is not difficult to balance only a leading range, electing to lead with a balanced range will take hands from your various checking ranges, making those a bit more difficult to balance. However, if you think leading into your opponent will induce him to react in a way that is beneficial for you, go for it. A typical leading range includes marginal made hands, such as A-5 on K-5-2, and marginal draws, such as J -9 on 8 -7 -3 . If you want to lead with mostly marginal hands, you should also lead with various bluffs and nut hands. Your leading range will otherwise be face-up. If you lead and get called, figure out what your opponent thinks about your leading range and play the turn accordingly. I don’t know how most opponents will react to leads because leading is rare in today’s game. However, you should still actively try to improve your hand-reading skills. If you believe your opponent thinks you are leading with mostly marginal hands and that you will fold those on a later street, either continue betting the turn and the river to force him off most of his range, or try to check-raise the turn as a bluff, hopefully convincing him you have a strong hand. If your opponent thinks you are leading with a marginal hand you never plan to fold, which is somewhat standard in small-stakes games, you should probably fold to pressure on later streets because he expects you to call. If he thinks you will not fold and he is still betting, he has you beat. If you lead and get raised, consider again what your opponent thinks about your leading range. I have made a lot of money off weak players who lead with hands such as middle pair or top pair with a weak kicker to try to find out where they stand. They assume your raise means you have their marginal hand beat. In reality, they plan to fold to aggression, allowing me to raise and steal the pot. If you know your opponent will attack your leads relentlessly, you can lead with marginal made hands and never fold them to his relentless pressure. It’s awesome to be able to call a raise with 10-9 from the big blind, lead the J-9-5 flop, get raised, then call down additional large bets on the turn and river, knowing you usually have the best hand. It takes a lot of history with a player to know he will blast off when faced with a lead. This scenario will be hugely profitable if you can set it up. The only problem is that your opponent could know you don’t plan to fold, in which case he can simply raise the flop for value with hands such as top pair, top kicker, and stack you on later streets. Leading leads to tricky leveling wars that I generally avoid, especially if I can find better spots involving less risk and more information.

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Re-raised Pots You will play a re-raised pot, out of position, as the caller, when someone limps, you raise from a blind, he re-raises and you call. Since this betting pattern almost never takes place, it warrants little attention. I imagine the limp re-raiser will usually have a strong range, although this is very player-dependent. Some players will limp re-raise most of their limping range, hoping to represent A-A. Other players will make this play only with A-A. The easiest way to define someone’s range in situations that almost never occur is to see how often they take place. Someone who limp re-raises often probably has a wide range. If he does it once in an eight-hour session, he probably has a strong hand. The player’s open-limping frequency is also useful information. Someone who rarely limps is more likely to have a strong hand when he limp re-raises than a player who limps often and plays randomly when facing aggression. Simply put, if you think the limp re-raiser has a weak range, don’t be afraid to check-call down with a fairly wide range of made hands. Consider check-raise bluffing if you think you have a lot of fold equity. If you think the limp re-raiser has a premium range, fold unless you flop the nuts. As always, I don’t recommend leading in this situation because it will make all but your most premium holdings difficult to play unless your opponent is overly weak.

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Four-bet Pots You’ll play a four-bet pot, out of position, as the caller if someone raises, you reraise out of position, he four-bets and you call. Unless the four-bet is tiny, you should rarely call pre-flop without a strong hand that you plan to slow-play. Because of this, you should have or flop a hand good enough to warrant getting all your money in. You should check-fold most of time if you have nothing in this situation, as the stacks will almost be all-in. With your entire playable hand range, which will usually be reasonable paired hands and better, plus decent draws, you should tend to check-raise all-in, as you can expect your opponent to continuationbet the flop most of the time when he four-bets pre-flop in position. You should also consider leading into the pre-flop four-bettor, but that play is best reserved for mediocre draws, such as gutshots, that are not quite good enough to check-push. Since this exact range is fairly weak, you either need to balance it by adding in some premium hands or by not leading with any hands. I much prefer to not lead with any hands in this situation.

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Multiway as the Aggressor You usually want to play much more straightforwardly in multiway pots than when heads-up. This is because one of your opponents is much more likely to have a strong hand. You should also play more straightforwardly as more players see the flop. However, your opponents are likely to do the same, making multiway pots some of the best opportunities to bluff, especially when you are in position. Don’t be scared to pounce once it’s clear no one has a reasonably strong hand.

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Limped Pots Limped pots come in numerous varieties. Your main concerns should be how many players are in the hand, how many are yet to act, whether any particular limper has a stronger than average range and how your hand will likely fare if you bet and are called. In general, do not assume the blinds are weak when they check in a limped pot. While it is fairly common to see someone bet into the other players in limped pots when he has something, most players in the blinds will check to see what develops, which is usually a smart play. Players who voluntarily limp into the pot and check the flop usually have a marginal hand at best. So, if there are a few limpers and you limp the button, feel free to bet around half-pot if everyone checks to you on the flop. Continue with caution if one of the blinds calls. If one of the other limpers calls, don’t hesitate to continue bluffing on the turn and river, as the caller typically has no better than top pair with a weak kicker. Pay attention to how wide your opponents are willing to call you down. Some will call two streets with their entire mediocre range and fold on the river. Others will call on all three streets, never folding, which isn’t a bad strategy if they know you are overly aggressive. Simply bet for value with your strong hands, hoping to get called by a worse made hand. If you bet and get check-raised in a limped pot, fold unless you have a powerful holding or you know your opponent likes to raise with a wide range. You should usually fold when someone bets in a limped multiway pot, unless you have a strong made hand or draw, or if you think you can raise and make your opponent fold most of his betting range. Some players will never bluff in limped pots; others will frequently do so. You must base your play in this situation on your opponent’s tendencies. It is usually smart to call a bet with a mediocre hand in a limped pot if other players are yet to act, especially if you can fold if someone raises. There is also merit in trying to get the pot heads-up by raising with most of your playable hands. The problem with raising with a mediocre hand is that you may force the initial bettor to only continue with hands that have you in bad shape. If you don’t give too much unwarranted action, you should be able to easily navigate limped pots.

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Single-raised Pots Your opponents will often check to you when you raise and are called by two or more players. You should usually make a continuation bet with premium hands for value, and with your bluffs if you expect to have reasonable fold equity. Bet around half-pot with most of your range, and a bit more on coordinated boards. You should almost always check when you have nothing on coordinated boards, as an opponent is likely to have something. Checking is an option when you have a marginal made hand that cannot stand up to much pressure, such as Q-J on J-8-4 or K -K on 8 -7 -4 , if you want to add strong hands to your checking range. Of course, you could also bet these hands. Try to play such that your checking range is not entirely made up of check-folding hands because that will make it easy to play against you. When you make a continuation bet in a multiway pot as the aggressor and someone raises, most of your standard opponents will probably have at least a decent pair or a strong draw. Hence, you should not pile money in with a hand such as top pair. It is often better to call the raise and see how the hand develops on the turn. As always, be aware that some players will have a much tighter raising range than others. Some will have a folding, calling and raising range on the flop, whereas others will have only folding and raising ranges. Clearly, you must be much more prepared to continue against someone who raises with all of his playable hands, because his raising range will typically be fairly wide. Your position when raised should also play a huge factor in determining how you should continue. For example, if you continuation-bet A -A on 8 -7 -4 and are raised, you should be much more likely to get all-in when out of position than when in position. In position, you can possibly get away from your hand on scary turns and get all-in on safe ones, or continue to call, allowing your opponent to bluff or overvalue a worse made hand. If you’re out of position, your opponent will have the option to check behind on the turn, opting for a free card to help him realize his equity when drawing. If someone leads into you in a multiway pot, you can often assume the bettor has a marginal made hand, a marginal draw or a strong made hand. Each opponent will tend to lead with either a marginal or premium range. I typically call these leads when I think I have some equity or when I think my opponent’s range is marginal, looking to frequently raise on the turn as a bluff if he bets again, or bet the turn fairly large if he checks, with plans to continue betting on the river if he calls the turn. With my strong hands, I also tend to call the flop and see how the hand develops on the turn. If I think my opponent’s range consists of mostly premium hands, I simply fold unless I also have a strong hand or draw. There is no point in raising if you think your opponent’s range consists mostly of premium holdings, because you will be putting money in bad and also may get blown off whatever equity you have if he re-raises. 157

Re-raised Pots There are two ways for a pot to be multiway and re-raised. Someone raises, someone else calls, a third player re-raises and the other two players both call. Or else, someone raises, another player re-raises, someone else cold-calls and the initial raiser calls. The second situation occurs much more often at small stakes than at high stakes. When someone cold calls, you should usually assume that player has a strong, but not amazing hand. This cold-calling range will typically be J-J, 10-10, 9-9, A-K and A-Q. With this range, there are almost no flops that miss this player. Because of this, when you are checked to and have nothing on a board that is not overly coordinated, you should often make a small continuation bet of around 2/5 pot, hoping to win whenever both your opponents have missed. Give up with your air if the board is wet, as you will be unlikely to steal the pot. Bet around 2/5 pot on all boards with strong hands with which you are happy to get money in. Notice that making the same bet size makes it difficult to play against you. You should generally be willing to fire only one street as a bluff in these pots, as players who typically call on the flop do not fold on the turn unless the board drastically changes, because they will already have a significant portion of their stack in the pot. With mediumstrength hands, such as J-9 on J-10-5, it’s usually best to make a standard bet with the intention of folding if raised. This is because you will have a difficult time standing up to pressure if you call the flop raise and face a bet on the turn, or if you check behind on the flop and face turn and river aggression. Clearly this is not an enviable spot unless your opponent is a maniac. In the more standard situation, when someone raises, someone calls, you re-raise and both opponents call, you should tend to make a continuation bet with most of your range on all uncoordinated boards because both your opponents’ ranges tend to be somewhat capped. Both would likely re-raise pre-flop with premium holdings, meaning they typically have speculative hands here. When the board consists of either high cards or low cards, you should almost certainly bet around 2/5 pot. On middle-card boards, you should be somewhat willing to give up unless you flop a strong hand, because those boards usually hit your opponents’ ranges fairly well. When you bet on the flop and get raised, the raiser often has either a strong hand or a strong draw. Since the raise will likely be all-in, you will have a fairly simple decision: call or fold. When you have a decent made hand or draw, call if you are getting the right price, and fold otherwise. When someone leads into you, continue with most strong hands and draws, mixing it up between raising all-in and calling. Ideally you should raise with draws to increase your fold equity, and call with made hands to induce bluffs. Sadly, you have to balance in the real world unless your opponents are paying no attention. With marginal hands, such as J-10 on J-8-6, you should often call and see what 158

develops, although you could go all-in on a draw-heavy board. Pay attention to the hands your opponents show up with, as they may greatly alter the way you play in the future.

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Four-bet Pots You will rarely be in multiway four-bet pots. This usually occurs when either you or someone else raises, someone re-raises, someone calls, you four-bet and both call. It can occur in a few other ways, but if the action is this significant, it’s fairly certain that at least two players, usually those driving the action, have powerful ranges, and the person in the middle has a range made up of mostly drawing hands, usually pairs or suited connectors. Of course, you do not want to be the guy in the middle unless the bet sizes are tiny and you do not expect to face an eventual sixbet before the flop. If you have a strong hand on the flop, you should often make a continuation bet, which will usually be all-in, and if you have nothing, you should frequently fold because one of your opponents will have something decent and will usually not fold due to the large pot. If you have a strong hand, such as Q-Q on J-7-5, and someone leads into you, a crying call is usually warranted, also due to the large pot. Pay attention to your opponents’ tendencies in similar large pots and try to use that information to figure out their ranges. There is certainly some merit to slow-playing with hands such as A-A and sets. If your opponents know you are capable of checkfolding some of the time, consider adding some nut hands to your checking range to induce bluffs. At the risk of oversimplifying, once the pot becomes gigantic, especially if there are multiple people in the pot, you should play somewhat straightforwardly because opponents who think they have something strong will not fold, and they will fold with nothing.

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Multiway as the Caller Single-raised Pots You will be the caller in a multiway pot if someone raises, you call and someone else calls behind, or vice versa. You must consider your likely position relative to the initial raiser. For example, if someone raises, you call in the hijack seat and the button calls, you will frequently face a continuation bet from the pre-flop raiser. You will have to act having no idea what the button might do. If you trade places, now that player will face a tricky situation. Proceed cautiously when you lack relative position. Notice that a player who calls from the blinds will have relative position because after the initial raiser continuation-bets, the person in late position will have to act before the player in the blind has to take any sort of significant action. When you expect to have poor relative position, especially with hands that have reverse implied odds, you should tend to re-raise or fold before the flop as long as the initial raiser is raising more than only the most premium holdings. If you lack relative position and the initial raiser makes a continuation bet, you should tend to only continue when you flop a reasonably strong hand, unless you are confident that a bluff-raise will induce your opponents to play quite straightforwardly. For example, if you have A -3 on K -5 -2 and the initial raiser makes a continuation bet, you should typically fold if there is a player yet to act, although raising is also a strong option. Calling is the worst possible play because the player with relative position can continue with a wide range, getting excellent odds, putting you in poor relative position again on the turn. If you have K-J on the K -5 -2 board, you can mix up your play between calling and raising. With 5-4 on the same board, you should tend to raise or fold. Basically, you should raise with draws and premium holdings and call with strong hands that are usually best but not good enough to get all-in. Notice 5-4 is effectively a draw here because if your opponent calls, you will almost always have the worst hand. If you have good relative position and the person in the middle folds, you should tend to play as if it’s a standard heads-up pot, but assign the continuation bettor a slightly stronger than average range because he bet into multiple players. Note that some players will frequently continuation-bet into three people, just as they would in a heads-up pot. Others play straightforwardly, only betting with hands they think are strong. Pay attention to your opponents in these situations; you can make huge folds against tight bettors and huge calls against loose ones. With four or more players in the pot on the flop, you should tend to play very straightforwardly, as someone probably has a fairly strong hand. For example, say someone raises, you call with Q -J and three other players call in position. You should usually fold if the initial bettor makes a standard continuation bet on J -10 -4 . Someone will often have either a better made hand or a strong draw, putting 161

you in a bad spot. Again, if everyone folds between you and the continuation bettor and there is no one yet to act, you can play as if it’s a heads-up pot. Remember that the continuation bettor probably has a strong range when he bets into four opponents. When the initial raiser checks and you have poor relative position, you should vary between bluffing and checking with weak holdings, depending on how many players are yet to act and how the board connects with their perceived ranges. For example, say someone raises, you call in middle position and the button also calls. If the initial raiser checks on an A-6-3 board, consider taking a stab at the pot if you know the button will not call with random A-x hands before the flop, and don’t bluff if you know he will often make that call. You should almost never bluff if multiple players are yet to act, as someone likely has a hand he will not fold. Bet around 3/5 pot with value hands and draws, such as A-J or K-Q on J-10-3. Fold AJ to a raise from someone who only raises with the nuts; call a raise from someone who raises with a wide range. Unfortunately, top pair with a marginal kicker is a tricky hand to play in a multiway pot. Try your best to listen to what your opponents are telling you and play accordingly. It’s usually best to re-raise K-Q, usually allin, if someone raises you on the flop, because it’s hard to get paid off when calling out of position with draws. Strongly consider firing out a bet with your entire range when you have position and everyone checks to you, especially if no one called from the blinds. The initial raiser probably doesn’t have a strong hand because he didn’t make a continuation bet. The callers in between likely don’t have strong hands because they didn’t take a stab at the pot when the initial raiser checked. Bet around 2/5 pot here. It will be quite difficult to play against you because your opponents will never know if you have a value hand or a bluff. You should likely continue firing on the turn if you’re bluffing, because a caller will tend to have, at best, top pair with a marginal kicker. You should almost always fold to a check-raise unless you have a premium hand. Few players will make this check-raise as a stone bluff in multiway pots because it will typically risk their entire stack and you could easily have a strong holding. Some strong players will check-raise with both draws and premium made hands, but you should still fold hands such as top pair with a marginal kicker. Do not reveal that you are folding top pair, because that would encourage players to checkraise frequently, forcing you to call off much wider, leading to huge variance. The most important thing to remember in multiway pots is that players tend to act in a straightforward manner unless they’re wild. Hands such as top pair are rarely good against someone who raises or re-raises the flop. Be careful with marginal draws, especially bad flush draws, if multiple players seem interested on the flop. You will often be drawing nearly dead against a strong made hand and a better draw. Ditch a bad draw quickly if you think you are in bad shape. Do not fall into the habit of blindly stacking off with decently strong hands in multiway pots 162

because they are usually strong in heads-up pots. Hand values are quite fluid. Sometimes top pair is the nuts and sometimes a flush is trash.

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Re-raised Pots You will be the caller in a re-raised, multiway pot if you raise, someone calls, someone re-raises and both of you call, or if someone raises, you call, someone reraises and both of you call. This also occurs in a few less common ways. As with a single raise, relative position is fairly important. Similar to heads-up, re-raised pots, once the pot becomes large, it is rarely a disaster to win it with little risk. When you check to the pre-flop re-raiser from out of position, you should usually check-push or fold most hands. This is mainly to protect your drawing hands, as you do not want to check-call with premium hands and check-raise, usually all-in due to the huge pot, with drawing hands. You could consider checkcalling with your marginal made hands, such as Q-J on J-7-4, to induce a bluff. The more draw-heavy the board, the more likely you should check-raise because your opponent probably has decent equity with most of his range. If you have position and your opponents check to you, do not be scared to make a small bet if you think you can often steal the pot. If no one seems interested in winning this large pot, feel free to take a stab. Remember that some players may tend to slow-play in large pots after the flop if they think they can induce a bluff. You will have to fold to a check-raise unless you have a premium hand or know your opponent is wild. For example, suppose someone raises from early position, you call with K -J in middle position, the fairly tight, straightforward small blind re-raises to a callable amount, the initial raiser calls and you call. The flop comes K -10 -4 . If everyone checks to you, this is a reasonable spot to bet 2/5 pot with the intention of folding if check-raised. While you don’t like to fold a hand this strong, if the small blind check-raises, you can bet he has, at worst, K-Q. You may think checking behind on the flop becomes a better play because that will get you closer to showdown, but realize that if your opponent has you beat, he will likely bet the turn and the river, costing you most of your stack. Also, someone who has Q-Q, J-J or a 10 will likely call a bet or two, allowing you to get decent value. Betting with the intention of folding is usually a great play, but you must know your opponents well and have the discipline to fold a fairly strong hand when it is clear you are crushed.

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Four-bet Pots You will be the caller in a four-bet pot if someone raises, you re-raise, someone cold-calls, the initial raiser four-bets and you both call. To take this line, you should have a premium hand you do not plan to fold on most flops. You could possibly call a tiny three-bet with some sort of drawing hand, but you should usually be slow-playing a premium hand, hoping to maximize value from both opponents. In this case, you should frequently continue slow-playing on the flop when your opponent continuation-bets, by calling when you have top pair or better. You might call with a hand such as Q-Q on K-6-3, but folding is acceptable. When checked to, you should bet around 2/5 pot to extract value with an overpair or top pair on most boards. Don’t be afraid to check-fold if you’re slow-playing A -A and the flop comes 8 -7 -6 , especially if someone shows a lot of interest in the pot. When you think you have a stranglehold on the pot, even when it gets large, continue slow-playing to induce your opponents to bluff or overvalue any made hands.

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Limped Pots Limped pots rarely take place in high-stakes games but occur frequently at small stakes. Since I do not suggest being the first player to limp in, perhaps except from the small blind against an aggressive player in the big blind, I will assume you were not the initial limper. If you open-limp frequently, you should probably take small stabs at the pot fairly often, especially when it is somewhat shorthanded. If you limp and only continue when you flop something reasonably strong, you will quickly bleed your stack away.

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Heads-up A heads-up, limped pot occurs when someone limps and you check in the big blind. Being out of position, you can attack this situation in two ways. You can lead with a fairly wide range of mostly gutshot draws and better, or check with your entire range, looking to check-call or check-raise with a bal anced range. If you decide to lead with your playable hands, you should do so with almost all of them, mixing up your strategy by occasionally check-raising and check-calling. Your main goal when leading with a wide range, which should be somewhat bluffheavy, is to steal the pot on the flop or turn with an additional bet or check-raise. As always, when bluffing, try to figure out what your opponent perceives as strong and do that. If you are leading for value, you should continue betting on the turn if your opponent calls your flop bet, unless you think he will bet when checked to but fold if you continue betting, or if you think you can no longer bet for value, which may be the case with hands such as middle or bottom pair. You will usually be in a tricky spot if you lead and your opponent raises, because most players know to somewhat aggressively attack leads. This is the main reason I am not a fan of leading against anyone who is the least bit versed in poker. Against players who will frequently attack leads, you could consider leading with only strong hands with the intention of never folding. If an aggressive player raises, strongly consider making a high-risk bluff, either re-raising the flop or checkraising the turn. Of course, if you were leading because you thought your opponent would play overly straightforwardly, and he raises, then fold unless you have a premium hand or are getting the proper price to draw. I prefer not to lead because you put yourself in a difficult spot when you bloat the pot from out of position. Betting guarantees that the pot grows somewhat large when your opponent decides to continue. The downside to checking with most of your range is that it allows your opponent to randomly outdraw you, which is never fun. If you decide to check most of your range, you should tend to check-raise or check-call the flop if your opponent bets and you have any sort of draw or made hand. Of course, you’re not checking with the intention of folding any hand with value or potential. Look to check-raise with your strongest made hands, most draws and the occasional bluff. Check-calling is a reasonable option with marginal made hands and fairly strong draws. As always, do not be scared to mix up your play based on what you expect your opponent to do. Note that top pair with a good kicker goes way up in value in a limped pot compared to a raised pot. Your opponent’s range will be much weaker because he limped, unless he limps with only premium hands. Because of this, especially if you are going to check-raise with your best hands and marginal draws, consider adding top pair to your check-raising value range. However, you may still have to release your hand if your opponent re-raises the flop. 167

You will be in position in a limped heads-up pot when the small blind limps and you check in the big blind. If the small blind checks the flop and you know him to be straightforward, bet around 3/4 pot both for value and as a bluff, with the intention to usually continue betting the turn and river. If your opponent thinks you are crazy and you have a bluff, you should probably not fire the turn and river too often. If you have a strong value hand and your opponent thinks you are straightforward, you should probably check back either the flop or the turn for deception purposes. Tend to fold a decently strong hand to a check-raise, unless you know your opponent to be wild. Call with most playable hands if he is wild and he check-raises. If you have a premium hand and a straightforward player checkraises, you can re-raise if you think he will never fold, or call if you think he has a good, but not amazing hand, such as top pair, decent kicker.

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Multiway Limped multiway pots differ little from single-raised, multiway pots, the main difference being that the pot size is much smaller compared to the stack sizes. This should lead players to aggressively attack each other, trying to steal the pot, but in small- and medium-stakes games, everyone acts fairly straightforwardly because they are afraid to lose a big pot. Because of this, when significant action takes places, assume both players have reasonably strong hands, even though they should be fighting for pots with much wider ranges. Out of position in a multiway limped pot, you are either in the small blind or the big blind and did not raise. With more than three players in the pot, you should almost always check and see what develops. Someone is bound to flop a fairly strong hand in the four- to eight-way limped pots that are common in smaller-stakes games. Say you check with K-5 in the big blind in a seven-way pot. If the flop is K7-6, you should frequently check with the intention of folding, because most players will check the flop with middle pair or worse and see what happens on the turn. Of course, you should not fold if you know the flop bettor is capable of betting with a wide range, particularly from late position. That said, raising would be terrible because he would likely only continue with better made hands and draws. Check-raising for value is usually acceptable with premium hands, such as top pair, top kicker and better. Note that K-Q on Q-6-4 is much stronger than A-6 on 64-3. While both hands are top pair, it is almost impossible for you to be beat with the K-Q hand unless someone has 6-4, 4-4 or 6-4. With the A-6 hand, you lose to any overpair, any set and any two pair, and you don’t have a ton of equity against the draws. This should lead you to raise for value with K-Q and call a bet with A6. It’s usually ideal to check your draws with the intention of calling or raising if someone bets. While check-raising is usually best, it’s also acceptable to checkcall, especially if you’re drawing to the concealed nuts, the pot is multiway and you will likely realize your implied odds if you hit. I am not a big fan of continuing with hands such as middle or bottom pair if you know multiple players will see the turn. For example, if I have 5-4 on a K-10-5 flop in the big blind, I check, someone bets and three players call, I am folding every time despite the amazing pot odds. No one would pay me off for a huge amount with a one-pair hand if I improved to trips or two pair, and I wouldn’t win the hand if it checked down. Bluffing would be impossible due to the large number of players in the pot. This, however, assumes my opponents are competent. If you could check-raise the turn and still get action from a K or 10, perhaps it would make sense to call a flop bet. But you have to know your opponents are huge calling stations who are incapable of folding top pair. To compound your problems, even if your opponent has top pair and you make two pair on the turn, he will still have a 169

few live outs to crush you. If you are going to draw to marginal hands, be aware that you can lose even when you get there. If you are in position in a multiway, limped pot, you should often take a stab at the pot with your entire range when everyone checks to you. As in single-raised, multiway pots, when straightforward players check, particularly when no one has initiative before the flop, they tend to have marginal hands at best. If you know all of your opponents have middle pair or worse, you should be somewhat willing to fire three bullets when bluffing.

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Summary The flop is fun! While I strongly suggest you play a somewhat balanced range both before and on the flop, these bal anced plays will set up fairly unbalanced strategies on the turn and river. The biggest mistake amateurs make on the flop is to overplay top-pair hands when their opponent clearly will only continue with better made hands and draws. Plug this leak as soon as possible because you cannot be a winning poker player if you commit this error on a regular basis. One last time, at least in this section, I want to emphasize the incredible importance of your opponent’s tendencies. If you know he is tight and passive, you should fold almost everything if he wants to put lots of money in the pot. You can happily call down with middle pair against an overly wild player. Constantly think about your opponent’s range, how your hand does against that range, and how your opponent perceives your range. If he thinks you are tight and straightforward, you should bluff-raise the flop fairly often. If your opponent thinks you are crazy, you should likely make balanced plays on the flop, which usually means often continuation-betting, looking to play in an unbalanced manner on future streets, betting when you have a strong hand and giving up when you have nothing. In other words, you must actively think at the poker table. If you are only concerned with playing your own two cards using some predefined strategy, you will fail. If you learn to assess your opponent’s range and adjust accordingly, you will succeed.

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Chapter 5 The Turn and the River

Players often say they make decisions one betting round at a time, trying to make the best play on each street. They are missing the big picture. While your play on the turn and river requires significantly different strategies, both betting rounds are closely connected and must be discussed together. On the turn, you frequently have some amount of information and an unknown amount of equity. On the river, you have as much information as you are going to have in the hand, and either all or none of the equity. To properly navigate these tricky situations, you must understand how your turn play will alter the possible river situations. You generally want to take turn lines that allow you to play the river with ease. Making a particular bet on the turn will often force you to make another bet on the river. Throughout this section, I will demonstrate which betting lines go well together and which will leave you in difficult spots that force you to make costly errors when huge bets go in the pot. For example, suppose you raise with 7 -5 from the cutoff to 3 big blinds out of your 100-big blind stack. A fairly tight, straightforward opponent calls in the big blind. The flop comes K -8 -6 . You make a standard continuation bet of 2/3 pot and your opponent calls. On the turn you have a few reasonable options. You could check behind, looking to get value on the river if you hit and occasionally win with a bluff if you miss. This should likely be your play if you know your opponent has some sort of made hand that he will not fold to a simple bet-bet-bet line. You could bet 3/4 pot, hoping to force him off all made hands worse than a K, plus some draws, intending to give up on the river if you miss. This would be ideal if you thought your opponent’s range consisted mostly of marginal made hands. Notice if your opponent calls the turn with a draw, he will almost certainly have the best hand if you both miss at showdown, making this line sub-par. You could also bet 2/5 pot on the turn, with the intention of betting fairly large on the river as a bluff if you miss, and a normal size if you hit. This would be ideal if your opponent will call a small turn bet with his entire range and fold most of it to a large river bet, but call with most of it when facing a normal-sized river bet. You could also bet large on both the turn and river, hoping to make your opponent fold his entire range, if you think he is capable of folding top pair to three substantial bets. Another strong play would be to bet 2/3 pot on the turn, hoping to make him continue only with 172

strong made hands and strong draws, then bet large on scary rivers, such as when the obvious flush or straight cards come in, while checking back when inconsequential river cards arrive because he will never fold top pair. You will usually have to choose the best line from numerous possibilities to take advantage of your opponent. To determine the ideal line, you must consider your cards, your opponent’s range, the stack sizes, your opponent’s tendencies and all possible turn and river cards. The goal on the turn and river is to maximize your expectation by figuring out what your opponents will perceive as strong or weak, and adjusting your play accordingly. There is a lot to think about. In contrast to the relatively few possible scenarios before and on the flop, the possibilities are nearly endless on the turn and river. For this reason, I am going to break these down to common, generic situations. By the turn, you should know whether you have the best hand or you are bluffing. Since you want different outcomes with the best and worst hands, I will divide this section by whether you are in or out of position, you are the flop aggressor or caller, and you have a made hand, which you assume is best, or a bluff, which you assume is worst. Since you will usually be heads-up or in a multiway pot where someone clearly has a marginal holding, and can therefore be more or less ignored, I will primarily discuss heads-up pots. I will briefly address multiway pots at the end of this section.

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In Position, Heads-up, as the Aggressor with a Made Hand You will be in position as the aggressor with a made hand if you either continuation-bet with a hand you thought was fairly strong on the flop, such as top pair or better, and the obvious draws did not arrive, or you had a drawing hand that improved to what is likely the nuts. You must now decide if you should bet for value or check behind when your opponent checks to you on the turn. If the board does not change and your made hand is still probably best on the turn, you should usually bet the turn, and bet again on the river if the board does not drastically change. If the latter occurs and your hand is much worse on the river, you should usually check behind on the river unless you know your opponent is a calling station. Suppose you have K -Q as the pre-flop raiser and continuation-bet on K -9 -5 . If your opponent checks to you on a blank turn, such as the 3 , you should almost always bet around 3/5 pot unless you know your opponent will frequently put you in a tough spot by check-raising. Against someone who will often checkraise with a well-balanced range, you should tend to check behind on the turn with the intention of calling on all rivers, as you will have induced your opponent to overvalue numerous worse made hands, and also to bluff. If you bet the turn and he calls, if the river is a scary card, namely an A, J, 10, 9 or spade, you can either bet again with the intention of folding if raised, or you can check behind, hoping to win the pot when your opponent has a worse made hand or busted draw. Check behind more often as the river completes more draws. In this example, an A, J or 10 would be particularly bad because they let a random A win, complete obvious flushes and gutshot straights, and occasionally improve your opponent to two pair. Check behind on those rivers unless you are certain your opponent never folds a made hand. Size your turn and river bets such that your opponent can reasonably call with worse made hands. In the previous example, if the river is an inconsequential card, such as a 2 , you should bet around 3/4 pot for value, expecting a call from all made hands. Bet smaller if the river is a J , perhaps as little as 1/3 pot, because your opponent will have a much tougher time calling your bet with a bad K or a 9. Strong opponents will figure out what you are doing with your bet sizing. Consider making the same size bet against them with your entire range on the river, regardless of the river card. Against players who will never fold their weak top pair, you should bet fairly large on all non-spade, non-A rivers. Most people will play fairly straightforwardly on the river, calling large bets with strong hands and small bets with a wider range of marginal and weak made hands. Always size your bet such that an opponent can call with worse made hands. Don’t bet at all if your hand is so bad on the river that your opponent cannot call 174

any bet with a worse made hand. In the example, if you have 9-8 instead of K-Q, you should probably not bet even on the safest river cards because your opponent will be unlikely to pay you off with any made hand and unlikely to fold a better made one. If you have the nuts as the aggressor on the turn when the board drastically changes, which will be the case when you complete a draw on the turn, you should continue betting. In general, the more obvious your draw is, the smaller you should bet, in order to entice your opponent to continue. For example, bet small with A -3 on K -10 -5 -2 , perhaps around 1/3 pot, if you bet at all, whereas you should bet large, maybe 4/5 pot, with Q -9 on J -8 -3 -10 , because your opponent will often assume you don’t have a straight. Always think about which hands can call your bet. If there are four spades on board and you bet huge, your opponent may only continue with the first and second nuts, which he will rarely have. If you bet much smaller, he may continue with any flush. Notice when you hit your gutshot straight, your opponent will likely continue, even calling a large bet, with any J, 10 or draw, which should make up a large portion of his range. Consider your opponent. Some will view large bets as premium holdings regardless of the board, while others will ditch even fairly strong made hands when large bets hit the felt. If the board drastically changes and your nearly nut hand on the flop becomes much worse, you can vary your play between betting and checking the turn, depending on your opponent. You should generally bet again if your opponent will call with numerous worse made hands and draws. Check behind, opting for potcontrol, if he will only continue when you are beat, and call most bets on inconsequential rivers. For example, you should rarely have a default play with 5 -5 on K -Q -5 -8 , as some tight opponents will fold top pair to a bet and some looser players will never fold a Q. Generally, you can bet again with a hand as strong as a set. You can call if check-raised and try to river a full house. With K -8 instead, tend to check behind against tighter opponents because you will likely be drawing thin if you get check-raised, although you can never be sure. Also, check behind more often if an aggressive opponent might check-raise the scary turn with a wide range of hands that includes flushes, flush draws and top pair. While you must be careful when your made hand is overly vulnerable to river draws, such as with two pair on a three-flush turn, you can still happily check behind on the turn, even though you will occasionally be outdrawn on the river. To become a sound post-flop player, you must accept that you will sometimes be outdrawn on the river. When it is clear you have been outdrawn, such as when four spades come by the river and you have two pair, you have to release your marginal holding unless you know your opponent will bet a polarized range including too many bluffs. With a strong hand on the flop, such as Q-Q on J-7-5, tend to check behind if a bad overcard, such as an A or K in this case, arrives on the turn or river, unless you 175

believe your opponent will call a bet with numerous worse made hands. Consider also whether he is likely to have one of those overcards. For example, if on J-7-5, you think your opponent’s range is mostly jacks and draws, a K only realistically improves K-J, allowing you to continue value-betting with Q-Q if a K comes. Again, when you bet this turn or river with Q-Q and your opponent check-raises, get out of the way unless you know he is wild. You should be a bit more willing to check behind when a somewhat scary overcard arrives on the turn than on the river. If the overcard comes on the turn, consider whether you can still get two streets of value from your opponent, who must call down with much worse than top pair. Most players will call once then give up. If you can expect to get one more street of value, make it the river; your opponent will credit you for some bluffs because you checked behind on the turn. As the board becomes more draw-heavy on the turn, bet more often on the turn and check back the river, assuming you do not fear a check-raise. An opponent with a draw will call a turn bet but will not call a river bet if he misses. However, you can still check back the turn to induce a river bluff from a player who does this often when he misses. If you both check on the flop, you should probably bet with a wide range, including made hands, if your opponent checks to you on the turn. He is probably drawing thin, and may look you up with any sort of made hand, assuming you must be weak because you checked behind on the flop. Remember that you get full value from your strong hands by betting, not by checking. If you continuation-bet the flop and your opponent leads into you on the turn on an unchanged board, he likely either has a strong made hand that improved to either a set or two pair, or a total bluff. Either way, unless you have the absolute nuts, you should call because your opponent has essentially turned most of your non-nut range into a bluff catcher. When you have a strong hand, such as a set, you can either call or raise, depending on how you expect your opponent to react. If you think he will fold most of his turn leading range to a raise when you have a premium hand, simply call, and raise if you think he will call with most of it. Pay attention to what your opponent shows up with on the river because that will give you a good idea of how you should adjust. If you continuation-bet the flop, your opponent leads into you on the turn and the board drastically changes, you have to figure out how often he actually has the completed draw he is representing and how often he is either overvaluing a worse made hand, semi-bluffing or totally bluffing. If you have a marginal made hand, such as A -K on K -10 -7 -2 , and your opponent leads into you, there is no right or wrong course of action. I tend to call down once and see what my opponent has, and proceed in a straightforward manner in the future. For example, if he has the flush, I will likely fold to his turn leads more often in the future. If he has Q -J , I will be more likely to call down. Remember that your opponent knows you 176

caught him bluffing, which may induce him to reverse his default tendencies on you in the future. However, especially at small- and middle-stakes games, most players either check or bet with their nut hands when they hit on the turn. They don’t mix up their play too much. If you raised your opponent’s continuation bet on the flop, either for value or as a semi-bluff, and your draw arrives or your strong made hand maintains its strength on the turn, you should likely bet on the turn for value unless the stacks are so short that you can easily get them in on the river. If the stacks are deep enough that you must bet on the turn to set yourself up for an all-in river bet, you should almost always bet again on the turn. If there is around a pot-sized bet or less left to go into the pot, assuming the board is not too draw-heavy, you should usually check to induce your opponent to either think he’s holding the best hand or that he can bluff you on the river. If you have what is nearly a lock and raised the flop, such as with A-9 on A-9-52, and you think your opponent perhaps called your flop raise with hands such as K-K or 9-8, you should strongly consider checking back the turn to get full value from your opponent on the river, as this will likely lead him to assume you do not have a premium hand. However, if you think your opponent will only call your flop raise with an A or better, which is usually the case in most tight games, you should continue betting for value, as your opponent is drawing thin and will likely not fold. What this all boils down to is that you should almost always bet on the turn in position as the flop aggressor if you think your opponent has a worse made hand and can reasonably call. There is no point in slow-playing if your opponent will happily pay off two more bets because he views his holding as strong and will not fold. On the river, if you have what is almost always the best hand, you should choose a bet size that can reasonably be called by your opponent’s perceived river calling range. If your opponent check-raises on any street, you should often fold unless he is somewhat wild, or if you have a premium hand. Realize and accept that you can realize tons of value by betting with reasonably strong made hands, but you have no reason to continue if it is clear your opponent has a premium holding, which will almost always be the case when he check-raises.

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In Position, Heads-up as the Aggressor with a Bluff You will be in position, heads-up as the aggressor with a bluff, if you bet the flop with either a semi-bluff, a weak made hand or a total bluff, your opponent called and you missed your draw. It is imperative that you accurately assess your opponent’s calling range to determine how to proceed. For example, some opponents will call flop continuation bets with a wide range then give up to any further aggression. Others will call the flop only with hands with which they plan to call down. Because of this, your general strategy must depend on your specific opponent. If the board doesn’t change on the turn, you are the aggressor and your opponent checks, you should usually bet again if you have reasonable equity and don’t fear a check-raise. For example, if you have 7 -6 on an 8 -4 -2 -J board, betting is almost mandatory, as you can make your opponent fold some marginal made hands, and you have a ton of equity if he calls. You should probably not bet on a Q -J -6 -8 board because your opponent is too likely to have a decent made hand, and you are drawing to what could easily be the second-best hand if you improve to bottom two pair, or even trips. Always note whether you have what must be perceived as a drawing hand or the likely best made hand. For example, 7-6 on Q-J-6-8 is almost always the worst made hand, and if you have the best hand at the moment, your opponent almost always has some equity. Even though most players do not think of bottom pair as a drawing hand, if you are likely behind at the moment, you are drawing. The fact that you have one pair is irrelevant. It is usually wise to give up with total air on the turn, although betting is occasionally a smart play if you know your opponent reasonably well and think he will fold a large portion of his range. It could be smart to bet again on the turn with 2 -2 on 7 -6 -5 -8 if you think your opponent has a hand worse than a straight and will always fold it to turn and river aggression. If your opponent check-calls your turn bet, you should strongly consider betting any river, especially if you know he would check-raise the turn with a flush or a 9. Betting becomes a much worse play against opponents who are more likely to play cautiously with decently strong made hands. You should frequently check behind on the turn both when you have nothing you plan to fold on the river, and when you have a marginal made hand with which you plan to call a river bet. This will make it difficult to play against you, which is always a good thing. Make sure your turn checking range is not entirely composed of air because that will make you incredibly easy to play against. When deciding how to go about bluffing on the turn and river, ask yourself if a bet at any point in the hand will force your opponent off a large portion of his range. I typically take one of three main lines with my bluffs, depending on the 178

board, my equity and my opponent’s tendencies. I will bet around 3/4 pot on the turn and give up on the river, bet around 2/5 pot on the turn and 3/4 pot on the river, or bet 3/4 pot on both the turn and river. I sporadically take other bluff lines, such as betting half-pot on the turn and 1.5 times the pot on the river, if I think that line will show a huge profit in a particular situation. If you think your opponent will fold most of his non-premium range on the turn when a scary card comes, such as on J -10 -4 -A , you should probably bet 3/4 pot on the turn and give up on the river because you can reasonably assume he will only call on the turn with a premium hand. If you know he may call the turn with a wide range of marginal draws, you should bet 3/4 pot both on the turn and river, hoping to either pick up the pot on the turn, or bloat it on the turn and steal it on the river. On a 6 -5 -2 -10 board, it’s probably smart to bet 2/5 pot on the turn, putting your opponent in a fairly marginal spot with most value hands, and bet 3/4 pot on the river, espe cially if an obvious draw completes. This will allow you to keep your opponent in the pot with a wide range of marginal hands going to the river, and then blow him off most of those with a sizable bet. When bluffing, you do not mind if your opponent stays in the hand on the turn if you can make him fold almost his entire range with a river bet. Even though you expect to have little to no fold equity on the turn with your small bet, you know you will win the pot frequently with a river bluff. Most players assume specific bet sizes mean specific types of hands. Against a strong player, it is usually smart to take lines that will level him into thinking you have a certain type of hand. For example, if your opponent knows he’s turned his marginal made hand face-up, such as middle pair, and he actually has such a hand, it can be beneficial to make a small bet as a bluff on the river, leading him to think you are trying to get him to call with his obvious middle pair. A good opponent will find a fairly big fold. Of course, most opponents in small- and middle-stakes games simply call in this situation, making this line terrible against them. It is important to pinpoint your opponent’s turn and river check-calling tendencies. It is not uncommon, especially in the small-stakes games, for players to check-call almost any flop and turn bet with the intention of folding most of their range to a river bet. Other players will call the flop with a wide range but never fold once they call the turn. Some players will call down until the board drastically changes, and then fold to any future bets. Against these players, you should strongly consider bluffing whenever a draw completes and it is clear they do not have the nuts. Unfortunately, there is no simple guide to when you should and should not run a turn and river bluff because it is extraordinarily player-dependent. If you check back the turn with a weak hand and your op ponent checks to you on the river, you should be cautious about taking a stab at the pot, even if the board is somewhat scary. If all of the draws miss, most players will call down with any 179

pair. If all of the draws complete, some opponents will still call down with a wide range because they assume you would bet your draws on the turn, which is usually an intelligent assumption. Throw out an occasional bluff in this situation to see how your opponents react, but don’t be shocked if they look you up fairly often. These bluffs rarely succeed at high stakes, but this play could be hugely profitable if your opponent is the type who folds way too often on the river. You can expect him to bet the river when he has something, which implies he likely has a marginal or bad hand when he checks. Assuming you raised the flop with a semi-bluff or nothing and you still have nothing on the turn, you should generally bet again only if you expect to have reasonable fold equity, which will depend on your opponent. Suppose you raised your opponent’s flop continuation bet with 8 -7 on 9 -6 -2 and he called. You should probably continue betting, especially if you will be all-in, if you can likely get him off hands as strong as top pair, which may be the case if he tends to think you have a strong hand when you take this line. A turn bet of a particular size could result in stack sizes that make it difficult for you to call if your opponent checkraises the turn, which will usually be all-in. In this case, you should either bet smaller so you can call a small check-raise, bet larger so you will be getting priced in, or check behind, hoping to realize your equity. Always think ahead and figure out the pot odds you will be getting in the future. Size your current bets such that your future decisions are simple. If you raise the flop with a much weaker holding, such as J -10 on 8 -7 -3 , and the turn misses you, consider bet ting if you think you have good fold equity. If you have a pot-sized bet left, your bluff needs to succeed half the time, assuming you lose every time your opponent calls, which will not be the case because you have at least four clean outs to the nuts. Note that as the pot gets larger, your bet will be less than the size of the pot, so your bluff has to succeed less often. However, you will typically have less fold equity. Be careful when running what are almost total bluffs, unless your opponent is overly weak and dreadfully afraid of turn bets. You will often face a fairly strong range if he called your flop checkraise out of position. If the stacks are deep enough that you will be nowhere near all-in if you bet again on the turn with air, you should probably bet again to balance the times when you actually have a premium hand. Realize you would play your strong hands in the same manner, raising the flop and betting again on the turn to get stacks in by the river. If your range in this situation includes mostly made hands, these bluffs will show a nice profit as long as your opponent is not a calling station. Hopefully, you know by now not to bluff calling stations. If your opponent leads into you on the turn and you have a weak made hand, such as bottom pair, or nothing at all, you should usually fold unless you know he plans to fold if you raise. Calling is occasionally acceptable with weak pairs, but if you 180

know your opponent will make your river decisions tough by betting with both strong made hands and busted draws, you should sidestep this situation by folding the turn. Calling is okay with a strong draw that is getting the correct price to continue. If your opponent bets large, killing your immediate pot odds, raising to maximize your fold equity is probably ideal unless he is a calling station. While most people view the turn and river as spots where you bet when you have a strong hand and give up when you have less than top pair, you should use these streets to put your opponents in tough situations when they have a sub-premium range, which will be most of the time. Try to take bluffing lines that you would take with your premium hands, so opponents cannot easily pick you off. If you actively and accurately assess your opponent’s range and tendencies, you should be able to run well-timed bluffs on later streets with reasonable success.

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In Position, Heads-up, as the Caller with a Made Hand You will be in position as the caller if you call your opponent’s continuation bet on the flop with a made hand, either premium, such as two pair or better, or marginal, such as top pair or middle pair. Your main concern with a premium hand is how to get the money in by the river. Your goal with a marginal hand is to get to showdown, extracting value from your opponent’s worse made hands and not losing too much when you are crushed. When your opponent continues betting on the turn and you have a premium hand, you should usually assume he has a strong hand unless he regularly bluffs the turn and river. You should have probably raised the flop with strong hands against passive opponents who frequently only bet the flop with strong made hands. If you just called, it is usually best to raise the turn to maximize value. Realize that most players consider turn and river raises much more powerful than flop raises. So, before raising, you should be confident your opponent has a hand he doesn’t plan to fold. You hate to see your opponent fold a hand such as top pair to a turn raise when he would have happily bet the turn and river for value had you called instead. Calling is by far the best play against someone who will fold almost all made hands if you raise the turn. The last thing you want to do is to make it clear to your opponent that you really do have a premium hand. If your opponent is a LAG, again you should have raised the flop. If you called instead, the same logic applies as when playing a tight player, except the LAG is much more likely to have a marginal hand. This should again lead you to call instead of raise. Notice that calling on the flop with a strong hand makes it extremely difficult to get a ton of money in on later streets without portraying your holdings as premium. Suppose you call your opponent’s pre-flop raise and continuation bet with A -J on J -9 -5 , and he bets again on an A turn. If you know he would only bet on the turn with an A or better or a draw, and would rarely fold if you raise, then raising is an excellent move because you will be able to extract value from numerous worse hands. You typically want to raise to around 2.7 times your opponent’s bet, assuming he made a standard bet size of around 2/3 pot. As he bets larger, you should raise a bit less, around 2.5 times his bet, and if he bets smaller, you should raise a bit more, to around 3 times his bet. If instead you think your opponent will fold everything besides two pair or better and will check with his draws, raising the turn becomes terrible because it will cause him to fold almost his entire range, which you currently have crushed. Think about how your opponent will view your raise. If he thinks you will raise the turn with a draw, he will be more likely to call down with marginal made hands, allowing you to extract value. If the board is J -9 -5 -A , it contains few draws and your opponent bets again on the turn, raising becomes a bit more speculative because he will usually only call your raise with A-K or better unless 182

he thinks you are wild or he is a calling station. Constantly assess your opponent’s range and play accordingly. If you call the turn with your strong made hand and your opponent bets again on the river, if you have the nuts, you should clearly raise to an amount that your opponent can realistically call with a reasonable percentage of his range. A minraise on the river is rarely correct because your opponent will usually call with his best hands and fold everything else, regardless of the amount of your raise. As a default, raise to 2.7 times your opponent’s standard-sized bet. If he makes a tiny bet of around ¼ pot, you should raise larger, perhaps around 4 times his bet. You should usually relate your bet size to the pot, but thinking about it in terms of your opponent’s bet size, as long as he makes reasonably sized bets, makes the calculations simpler at the table, at least for me. With less than the nuts, you have to figure out the likelihood that your opponent will call a raise with a worse made hand. For example, if you have 6 -5 and you call the flop and turn on K -Q -4 -7 , it’s almost always correct to just call on any river because most competent players will fold any hand worse than a flush if you raise. Since you lose to most flushes, raising could be a disaster. Think about the hands that can reasonably call your raise and act accordingly. Raising would probably be fine if instead you had J -6 , because your opponent is somewhat likely to have worse than the nut flush. You should tend to fold if you raise the river and your opponent makes a sizeable re-raise, as most players will only re-raise in this spot with the absolute nuts. You might make an exception for a player who is super wild or is known to overvalue his hands. Do not be afraid to raise a hand for value with the intention of folding it if it becomes clear you are beat. With a premium hand, when your opponent checks the turn after he continuationbet the flop, you should almost always bet when the board does not drastically change, because the only way to build a large pot is to bet. There is no point in getting tricky, electing to check back the turn with the intention of raising the river if your opponent bets. If you think your opponent could be checking the turn to try to control the size of the pot, which some opponents frequently do with hands such as top or middle pair, you should make a bet of around 2/3 pot, which he will frequently call. If you know your opponent rarely pot-controls with these hands, his turn range becomes much weaker, which should lead you to bet around 1/3 pot with most of your range. Of course, if you think he will call a 1/3-pot bet but fold to a 2/3-pot bet, you should bet 2/3 pot when you are bluffing and 1/3 pot when you have a strong hand, assuming your opponent will not figure out what you are doing. If your opponent may figure out your simple bet-sizing adjustments, you should tend to make the same bet size with both premium hands and bluffs. Only check behind when your hand is almost always the nuts, you fear no river cards and you are confident your opponent will fold if you bet. If your opponent check-raises the turn, you should usually assume he either has a 183

premium draw or a strong made hand, unless he likes to check-raise marginal made hands such as top pair. Bad players in low-stakes games will continuation-bet A K on K -6 -3 and check-raise on a scary turn, such as the J . Never fold strong hands, namely two pair or better, against these players because they can easily be butchering top pair. Your decision in the example above becomes more difficult if you have a flush and you know your opponent will only check-raise if he also has a flush. You should usually fold unless you beat the majority of his range, since you will surely face a further river bet. You should surely fold if you have a low flush. However, it is usually not smart to fold here prematurely unless you are confident in your opponent’s range. Players often make what they think is a great fold with a weak flush to an opponent who thinks he has the nuts with a straight or set. It’s okay to call the turn and river, losing your stack in a situation such as set-versus-set or flush-versus-flush, when you lose to only a tiny portion of your opponent’s range. Just be sure your opponent’s entire range does not crush your near-nut hand. If instead, you have 2 -2 on a K -Q -2 -6 board and your opponent checkraises, you should usually call even if you know your opponent has a strong hand, because you only realistically lose to K-K, Q-Q and 6-6. Your opponent is quite likely overplaying A-K, K-Q or K-J. While it is no fun to lose to a bigger set, you cannot be too sad about losing in set-up situations. Do not re-raise the turn unless you know your opponent is highly likely to overplay top pair, meaning he will never fold it if you pile your stack in. Most weak opponents will realize they are beat and will find a tight fold if you want to get all-in. It’s much better to keep your opponent in with his entire range. Unless you know your opponent’s tendencies well, you will usually be in a difficult spot when he continues betting the turn and you have a marginal hand, such as top or middle pair. Call down fairly wide if he loves to fire two or three barrels with a wide range. Tighten up if he only bets twice with top pair or better. Smallstakes players often learn to play horribly tightly because their standard opposition only bets the turn with premium holdings. They get run over when they move up to middle- and high-stakes because their new opponents bet the turn with a much wider range, both for value and as a bluff. Players in high-stakes games frequently call down correctly on all three streets with hands as weak as A-high. It is mandatory that you learn to assess your opponent’s betting range and tendencies. You can call some players’ turn barrels fairly wide, folding to a river bet because they only bet the river with strong made hands. Other opponents assume you will fold to a large river bet if you haven’t raised the flop or turn. It is a disaster to fold the river with even a marginal hand if you’ve called the turn against these players. Suppose you call a raise and a continuation bet with Q-J on K-J-5. The turn is any card other than an A, Q or J. If your opponent bets again, you have to determine 184

whether he will continue betting with worse made hands than yours for value, and also if he will continue bluffing, both with semi-bluffs and total bluffs. You have an easy fold if you think he will rarely bluff and will never bet for value with worse than top pair. You have an easy call if you think he will continue betting with most of his flop continuation-betting range. If you call, the river comes a blank, such as a 7, 6, 5, 4, 3 or 2, and your opponent bets again, you again must figure out how wide he will value-bet and how often he will bluff. Remember that on the river, you will usually only need to win a small percentage of the time to justify calling based on the pot odds. You should tend to look your opponent up if he is the least bit capable of turning a busted draw into a river bluff. That being said, some players, especially at small- and middle-stakes, almost never bluff the river, even if it’s apparent that you likely have a marginal holding. Suppose you call a raise and a continuation bet with J-10 on J-8-4. The turn card is an A, K or Q. If your opponent bets again, you will be in a similarly tricky situation. You first must decide if the turn card is in your opponent’s pre-flop raising and flop continuation-betting range. If it is, you will have to decide if he would value-bet with his newly found top pair. If he would, you then have to figure out what percentage of his turn betting range consists of top pair or better. Clearly, this is a lot to think about. Most amateurs will simply fold if they think he has it and call otherwise. They tend to fold either frequently or almost never to turn aggression when a somewhat scary overcard comes. In general, the tighter and more straightforward your opponent is, the more often you should fold. You should quickly call if you know your opponent will attempt to bluff on these scary turns. As always, it is very player-dependent. This concept also applies to the river. Suppose you call flop and turn bets with K-Q on Q-8-7-4, and the river is an A. If your opponent continues betting, you have to decide how often you are beat and call accordingly. I call on this scary river almost every time, especially in higher-stakes games against smart, aggressive competition, because it is so likely my opponent views scary rivers as excellent bluffing opportunities. Given my excellent pot odds, folding would usually be way too tight. However, against a blatantly straightforward opponent who bets the river only with top pair or better, you have a trivial fold if you cannot beat top pair. When your opponent checks the turn and you have a marginal hand, you must decide if your hand can easily get two more streets of value or if you should put only one more bet in the pot. Say your opponent raises pre-flop, bets the flop and checks the turn. You have a hand such as K-10 or A-Q on K-Q-7-4. Unless your opponent is overly tricky or capable of check-raising with a wide range, you should tend to bet both for value and protection. If he calls your turn bet, you should usually bet again with K-10 on safe rivers against almost everyone, and also with A-Q if your opponent is capable of calling down with a wide range, hoping he induced you to bluff. Remember, to profit from value-betting, you must have the 185

best hand more than half the time when called. To justify going for thin value on the river with middle pair, you must know for a fact that your opponent will call you down fairly wide. If you are known as a tight, straightforward player, you should value-bet less often with marginal made hands and bluff more often, because your opponents will usually call you down only with strong hands. If you are known to be loose and aggressive, you can make profitable value bets with marginal hands because your opponents will assume you are bluffing often. If opponents think you are bluffing, they will call down with fairly bad made hands some percentage of the time. This should induce you to value-bet with weak top pairs and middle pairs more often. Be aware of your image and how that should alter your river betting frequencies and ranges. A LAG strategy allows you to win much larger pots with marginal hands than a TAG strategy. If your opponent checks to you, you have a hand such as J-10 on J-7-6 and the turn is an overcard, you should vary your play between value-betting and checking back for pot control. If you expect your opponent to check-raise frequently with a balanced range, you should be more than happy to check behind, looking to call if he bets the river. If he is somewhat of a calling station, feel free to bet the turn. If he calls your turn bet, you should usually check behind on the river. It is tough to get two streets of value in this situation with middle pair because your opponent’s range is likely made up of mostly top and middle pair. When you bet the turn with middle pair, or even bottom pair in this situation, you are more so protecting your hand from the various hidden outs your opponent could easily have. Notice if you have A-7 on J-7-6-Q, you don’t mind if your opponent check folds 8-8, A-K, K-9 or 9-8. If your opponent elects to check call, you should usually assume you lose to most of your opponent’s made hands and that you will have a difficult time making him fold on the river. Notice if you check behind on the turn, your opponent can then bet any river, putting you in a bad situation because you lose to almost all hands that can reasonably value bet. By betting, you give yourself a decent shot of picking up the pot on the turn while keeping your river decisions relatively simple. Say you have a marginal made hand, such as Q -9 on Q -J -7 . The turn is a card that completes an obvious draw, such as any club, or a K, J, 10, 9, 8 or 7. If your opponent checks to you, you should often bet the turn, checking behind on the river if your turn bet is called. You are betting both to protect yourself from your opponent’s various hidden outs, and to get value from worse made hands. If your opponent check-calls on a scary turn, you should usually check behind on the river unless you know he is a calling station who will call down with a wide range of weak made hands. It is not uncommon to value-bet Q-9 on Q -J -7 -3 -2 in a high-stakes game if you have an aggressive image. If your opponent thinks you are tight, value-betting in this situation will likely be throwing money away, as he will probably assume you need two pair or better to value-bet, meaning he will only 186

call with hands that have you crushed. As always, unless your opponent is wild, if check-raised on the turn, you should usually assume your opponent has an overly strong hand unless he is known to overvalue top pair. You must have the discipline to get away from marginal holdings when you value-bet and are raised, especially if you are going for thin value. Do not fall into the trap of thinking everyone is constantly bluffing. Unless you are facing maniacs or creative, world-class opponents, you have to make standard folds when it becomes clear your opponent is not messing around.

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In Position, Heads-up as the Caller with a Bluff You will be in position as the caller with a bluff if you floated the flop with a draw or air then missed on the turn. You should usually fold if you have nothing and your opponent continues betting into you, unless you think the turn is scary enough that he will fold most non-nut hands. For example, if you float with J -10 on 8 -7 -3 and the turn is the 6 , you should almost always raise your opponent’s bet on the turn if you think he will bet with a fairly wide range for value. He will be in a terrible situation unless he has a flush, as he could easily be drawing dead with most of his range. If he has A -A , he has to worry that you have not only a flush, but also a straight, set or two pair. If you can put your opponent in bad situations with A-A, lots of medium-sized pots will be pushed in your direction because it is tough to have a hand anywhere near as good as A-A. If you raise the turn and your opponent calls, strongly consider making a sizable bluff on most rivers, especially if you think he will fold almost all of his range. Another fun spot for a bluff is when the middle or bottom card on the board pairs, such as on J-6-5-5, as those hands could easily be in your flop calling range. Know who is a calling station and who is afraid you have the nuts. Weak players come in many varieties. Some will always give up on the river and some will always call down. If you evaluate your opponent incorrectly, you will be throwing your money away with optimistic turn and river bluffs. You can almost blindly attack the turn bets of a fairly advanced player who is too tight and is capable of betting the turn with a wide range of value hands with the intention of folding if raised. Say you have 10 -7 on 9 -6 -2 -5 . Your opponent bets the flop and turn. Raise every time if you know he would bet hands such as J-J and 10-9 and fold to a raise. He will assume you have a better hand if you raise the turn. This type of player will fold almost his entire range on the turn, making your bluff wildly profitable. Say you have a reasonably strong draw on the turn, such as J -8 on 9 -7 -4 . If you miss and your opponent continues betting, you can treat your draw as if you have nothing and raise frequently. Or, you can call when getting the proper pot odds, looking to improve to the nuts on the river or bluff your opponent out sometimes when you miss. Never raise if your opponent clearly has a strong made hand he will not fold, as you will be piling money into the pot with roughly 30% equity. It also makes no sense to bluff someone who clearly has a strong hand on the river, because he will rarely fold. Feel free to get out of line and bluff if your opponent will fold frequently to a turn or river raise. One of my favorite plays with strong draws, particularly in high-stakes games, is to call the flop and raise the turn when I expect my opponent to have a wide turn betting range. Most decent opponents assume you will raise the flop with draws, 188

and figure you have a premium hand if you raise on the turn instead. This leaves your opponent thinking your range is exactly what it is not, leading to excellent situations for you. If you’re caught running this bluff, you must adjust your play in the future, especially against that player, to keep him guessing. If you call your opponent’s turn bet with a decent draw and miss on the river, you should usually fold if he applies further pressure unless another obvious draw completed. For example, say you have 10 -9 on 8 -7 -4 -3 -K . If your opponent bets on the river and you know he is capable of betting a K or 8 with the intention of folding to a raise, then raising is a strong option that will often win you the pot, especially if your opponent thinks you will not raise on the flop or turn with a draw. As always, some opponents will only bet the river with a flush, electing to check-call with all worse made hands. Bluff-raising the river would then be a disaster. If your opponent bets the turn and checks to you on the river when all of the draws miss, you should usually give up because most players will go into checkcall mode on the river with made hands worse than two pair. If you know your opponent would bet the river with most value hands, if he checks, consider bluffing the river using a bet size that will get him off all of his marginal made hands, usually around 2/3 pot. All of this being said, do not fall prey to fancy-play syndrome. Countless players cannot control themselves when they think their opponents have weak ranges on the turn and river. They feel as if they must bet or raise. Once their opponents figure out what they are doing, they will never fold. This is not a problem if you adjust and start betting the river with mostly premium hands, but most bad players continue to mindlessly bluff. Always be aware of what your opponents are thinking and adjust accordingly. There is nothing wrong with getting out of the way when you have nothing. You should obviously fold when check-raised on the turn if you have nothing. If you have a strong draw and are getting the correct pot odds to call, it is usually best to call and try to make the nuts on the river. If you are not quite getting the right price on the turn to call, see if you are getting reasonable implied odds. Call and try to make the nuts if you think your opponent will pay you off when you hit. Fold if you are not getting the right price, unless you think a re-raise will give you significant fold equity. This is usually not possible because most players have a strong range when they check- raise the turn. While you never want to set yourself up to fold a decent draw, when you constantly stab at and steal pots that do not belong to you on the turn, an opponent will sometimes force you out with a giant check-raise.

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Out of Position, Heads-up as the Aggressor with a Made Hand You will be out of position as the aggressor with a made hand if you bet the flop with a made hand and the board does not change, or with a draw that arrived. Suppose you raise pre-flop and continuation-bet with A-K on K-7-6. Strongly consider betting on almost every turn except perhaps a 10, 9 or 5, as those complete the most realistic draws. Even then, betting with the intention of folding to a raise is probably ideal. You should also continue betting the turn with 10-9 on K-7-6-8. Bet for value when your hand is almost certainly best at the moment and you do not fear a raise, because you have the nuts or you think your opponent will only raise when you are crushed, assuming he can reasonably call with worse hands. Do not bet for value when you know your opponent loves to float the flop with a wide range, looking to steal the pot on the turn or river. It is usually best to continuation-bet the flop against this type of opponent, which you would usually do with your entire range, and check the turn with the intention of calling down. Try to look unhappy when calling the turn because you want your opponent to continue bluffing on the river. You have to check-call with A-K on K-7-6-8-J if your opponent floated the flop and bet the turn and river when you checked. There is no point in check-raising because your opponent will usually only call when you are beat. You will be beat some of the time. However, if you know your opponent is overly aggressive, you will have the best hand quite often. Once your opponent knows you are capable of checking the turn with strong hands, you should probably bet the turn with value hands in the future because he will less likely fall into your trap and may even assume you only bet the turn with bluffs. If you turn or river the nuts as the aggressor, out of position with a drawing hand, you should almost certainly continue betting because your opponent may pay off with a marginal made hand if you bet, but will almost certainly check behind otherwise. If he has nothing, your bet makes it difficult for him to bluff, but very few people stay in a hand until the turn or river with nothing. You should usually bet all three streets for value with a hand such as A -J on K -10 -6 -5 , hoping your opponent calls down with any made hand. It’s usually pointless to go for a checkraise unless you know he will fold hands such as K-Q to a river bet but will bet for value if you check to him. Of course, this requires specific knowledge of your opponent’s tendencies. Players are much more likely to value-bet thinly on the river in high-stakes games. Even then, you will sadly discover your check-raise is almost never called unless your opponent also has a flush. Note this may mean a checkraise can be an effective river bluff. If you have A -K instead of A -J on the K -10 -6 -5 board, you can either bet the turn, intending to fold to a raise, or check with the intention of calling down. Your default play should very rarely be to check with the intention of folding to a 190

bet, unless you are certain your opponent would not value-bet a worse hand or bluff with a flush draw. You generally want to value-bet against players who will call down but not bet when you check to them with any K, 10 or draw. You want to check against players who will not call a value bet with a K or 10 but will bet with those hands if you check to them. It is always tough to figure out if you can still get three streets of value with top pair on a scary board. You usually need to keep your bet sizes fairly small and know your opponent will assume you are trying to push him off his marginal made hand. That being said, it is usually best to check either the turn or river because few opponents will pay you off on all three streets. When the draw arrives on the turn, you should usually check with the intention of calling down against reasonable opponents. If the turn checks through, you should certainly value-bet all safe rivers. If you bet the turn for value and the draw, except the four-flush draw, arrives on the river, vary your play between value-betting and check-calling the river unless you know your opponent will fold all worse made hands and only bet the river with a flush. If you have K-Q on K-8-7-2-A and bet the flop and turn, you should tend to check the river with the intention of check-calling against players who will fold all hands worse than an A to a river bet, which will include most weak, passive opponents. If your opponent is a calling station or thinks you love to bluff on scary rivers, you can continue betting to get paid off by a K or 8. Always be cognizant of the way your opponent perceives you because that will drastically alter your betting strategy. If you have A-K instead of K-Q, giving you two pair, you should probably continue betting. You can’t bet too large because you want to be called down by marginal made hands. When sizing your bet on the river against weak and mediocre competition, always think about the hands you hope will call and decide how much they can reasonably call. In this hand, you hope to be called down by what is likely middle pair. Betting huge would not work because most players won’t call large bets with middle pair. Instead, bet small. Bet huge, perhaps way more than the size of the pot, if you think your op ponent’s range consists of A-8, A-7 and 8-7, because he will rarely fold. If you check-raise the flop either for value with a strong made hand or as a semibluff, and you have what is likely the nuts on the turn, you should usually continue betting to build a large pot, especially with a somewhat disguised hand. You should certainly bet with 2-2 on A-8-2-6 or 10 -7 on 9 -8 -3 -J . Consider checking with an obvious hand, such as A -2 on K -8 -6 -3 , because it will be very difficult for your opponent to pay you off on both the turn and river. The strategy of betting when you have a strong hand will likely induce your opponent to fold when you clearly want to put money in the pot. Hence, you must actively mix bluffs into your range, especially against good opponents, to keep them guessing. 191

Out of Position, Heads-up as the Aggressor with a Bluff You will be out of position as the aggressor with a bluff if you bet the flop with either a draw or weak made hand and fail to improve on the turn. Usually, if you have absolutely nothing, unless the turn card drastically changes the board, you should check with the intention of folding unless you think your opponent may float the flop with a wide range with the intention of folding if you continue betting. If the board changes, such as when an overcard arrives that you could easily have, or an obvious draw completes, consider bluffing again on the turn, and possibly again on the river. Suppose you raise and continuation-bet with A -2 . You are out of position on J -5 -4 -9 . This is usually not a good board for firing multiple barrels because your opponent could easily call down with a J or a strong draw. You should probably bet again if instead the board is J -5 -4 -Q , putting him in a bad spot unless he has two pair or better. If he calls your turn bet, consider betting again on most rivers, especially if you think he would call your turn bet with a J, hoping you check the river, or hoping to improve a flush draw. If your opponent has a J and another spade comes, he will fold to a river bet. If he has a flush draw, he will fold if a spade does not come. This should lead you to bet around 2/3 pot on almost all rivers. Remember that you would play this way if you had a flush. Try to figure out your opponent’s flop calling range and see if you can force him off most of it by betting the turn, and perhaps the river as well. If you have a decent draw and miss on the turn, you should probably continue betting as long as you do not expect to get raised too often. It is rarely a good play to check on the turn as the aggressor, especially out of position. You will have a difficult time getting full value when you improve on the river because the pot will be small and you will no longer have the betting lead. You can consider checkraising the turn, which will usually be fairly large, possibly all-in, if you think your opponent will bet the turn with a wide range if you check to him. Similar to when you have nothing, you should often continue bluffing when the draws you do not have complete or the board drastically changes, such as with 10 -9 on J -8 -3 K . If you bet the flop with a draw and do not improve on the turn, you should usually continue betting unless your draw is either so weak that you can check-fold or is so strong that you can check, planning to go all-in. If you check the turn with nothing or a bad draw, such as A -3 on Q -4 -2 -J , and your opponent bets, you should trivially fold. If he checks back on the turn and you still have nothing on the river, only bet if you think his range consists mostly of marginal made hands he will fold to one more bet, or busted draws that beat you. If you have A-high, such as with A-3 on Q -4 -2 -J , the river is not a diamond and you think your opponent would raise the flop with a Q but call with draws, you 192

likely have the best hand if he did not make a pair on the river. So, you can checkcall down with A-high if you know your opponent is capable of bluffing with draws. Most players will not value-bet a hand worse than a Q on the river. Your opponent probably doesn’t have a Q because he would have raised with it on the flop. Hence, if he bets the river, he either has the nuts or a busted draw. Of course, players in most small-stakes games will simply check behind with their busted draws, making your call of a river bet terrible with A-high because your opponent will only bet with a made hand. Say your opponent will bet the turn with all value hands when you check to him, such as with 5 -4 on Q -4 -2 -J . If the turn checks and you have nothing, you should usually take a stab at the pot because his range will consist mostly of draws and A-high. You generally want to bet an amount that will get your opponent off most of the hands in his range that beat you. Bet fairly large if you think he has mostly marginal pairs, and bet small if you think he has mostly busted draws and Ahigh. Always assess your opponent’s range and when bluffing, bet just enough to get him to fold. Assume your opponent has a mix of 25% marginal made hands and 75% busted draws. You have the nut low and you think he will fold the busted draws to a halfpot bet and the marginal made hands to a pot-sized bet. Even though a half-pot bet will be profitable, a full-pot bet will show much more profit because your opponent will fold his entire range. If instead, he will never fold his marginal made hands, you should bet half-pot because that will allow you to win the pot 75% of the time, even though you will lose every time he has a made hand. Quite often, especially if the turn checks through, you can be confident your opponent does not have a premium made hand, allowing you at least some fold equity on the river, assuming you do not have an overly wild image. If you check-raise the flop as a semi-bluff and miss on the turn, you should usually continue betting, especially if you will be all-in, as you want to maximize fold equity with your draws. This line is excellent if your opponent was somewhat likely to call the flop with a wide range, intending to see what you do on the turn. If you are certain that he will rarely fold the turn, consider checking with the intention of continuing when he gives you the proper odds to call. Against a weak opponent you can bet around 1/5 pot on the turn if you think he will never fold to a turn bet. This will allow you to bet small on the turn and almost guarantee you can see the river cheaply with the betting initiative. Once your opponents realize what you are doing when you make a small bet, you should adjust by making this play with premium hands so they incorrectly assess your range. If you check-raised the flop with nothing, you should tend to give up unless you think a turn bet will have loads of fold equity. As long as your flop check-raising range is made up mostly of premium draws and premium made hands, betting the turn and river with the occasional stone bluff is never a terrible option unless you expect to have little to 193

no fold equity.

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Out of Position, Heads-up as the Caller with a Made Hand You will be out of position as the caller with a made hand if you check-call the flop with a made hand that does not get significantly worse on the turn. Since you will usually check-raise the flop with premium hands, you will typically be in this situation with a decent, but not amazing made hand, such as A-J on J-9-6 or 10-10 on 9-5-2. You should almost never lead the turn into the flop continuation bettor because if your opponent continues in any way, you will have no clue where you stand unless he is a calling station. For this reason, you should check the turn once you check-call the flop with your entire flop check-calling range unless you are certain as to how your opponent will react to a lead. Note that your reasonably strong, but not amazing made hand is effectively a bluff catcher if your opponent decides to bet all three streets. If he checks behind on the turn, unless the board drastically changes, making your made hand much worse, you should usually bet the river for value unless you are sure your opponent has nothing. Say you check-call the flop with marginal made hands, such as Q-J on K-J-3 or J-J on Q-9-7. You should usually call a turn bet if you know your opponent will frequently bet with his entire range, and fold if you think he will only bet top pair and strong draws. If the turn checks through, consider betting the river for value unless you think he frequently checks behind for pot control on the turn with hands such as top pair. Obviously, if the board changes significantly on the river, you should check and see what he does, usually folding to a significant bet unless he views a scary river as an excellent bluffing opportunity. Check-calling on the flop and turn can indicate to a competent player that you have a marginal made hand. This is the only part of your range you realistically want to play in this bluff-catching manner. You should tend to check-raise the flop with your premium hands and strong draws, leaving your calling range full of marginal holdings. To balance this, you should add a few premium hands to your check-calling range against good players. This can induce them to overvalue their decent made hands and to check behind on the turn and river with a wider range, getting you to showdown without having to face multiple barrels. However, it matters little if you identify your holding as a marginal hand if you know how your opponent will react to that knowledge. If you think he will usually try to bluff you off your marginal holding, you should call down if he bets. If you think he will only value-bet with better made hands because he assumes you will never fold, you should fold if he bets. If you check-call the flop with a premium hand and face a turn bet, you want to be able to check-raise either the turn or river for value. You must mix some bluffs into your range to do this, unless your opponent is a calling station. Ideally, you would like to mix in some semi-bluffs, such as decent draws. I rarely check-raise 195

the turn with premium hands because most players view check-raises as overly strong. Because I do not make this play with my strong hands, I also do not make it with draws. I check-raise the flop with these hands instead, leaving my turn checkcalling range weak. I know I can assess whether my opponent’s river betting range will consist of mostly bluffs or made hands, based on both of our images. Playing in this manner will remain profitable if you can accurately determine what your opponents will do, and also what they expect you to do. You will fail if you try to develop a basic strategy of always calling or always folding the river in this situation. If your opponent raises the flop in position and you call, you likely have a strong made hand you do not plan to fold. If you have a premium hand on the flop and the board does not change, you should usually check-call unless your opponent bets so large on the turn that he would be somewhat committed to call your all-in. You don’t want him to find a big fold when you think he is pot-committed, whereas he actually thinks you will only check-raise with the nuts, which he of course cannot beat if he folds. If you think your hand of A-K on K-10- 7 is good on the flop, you should usually check-call on all safe cards. However, calling down with top pair, top kicker when your opponent raises the flop will probably be burning money, especially against passive opposition at small- and middle-stakes games. If the turn makes your hand drastically worse and your opponent likely has you crushed, you must fold on the turn, even though the pot is large. Facing a reasonable amount of aggression with less than a premium holding, realize your hand is a bluff catcher even if it is high on the hand-ranking chart or near the top of your range. If you have A-2 on an A -K -2 -10 board and you know your opponent would only bet the turn with two pair or better, you must fold if he continues betting. Do not be stubborn and refuse to fold when you are clearly beat.

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Out of Position, Heads-up as the Caller with a Bluff You will be out of position as the caller with a bluff if you check-call the flop with a weak made hand or a draw and miss on the turn. When your opponent bets again on the turn and you have a weak made hand that is only a bad bluff catcher, you should fold if you think his turn betting range is strong and call if it is weak. This assumes you have a solid plan for proceeding on the river, which will usually be to check-call down on safe boards unless you know your opponent’s river betting range is tight. Note that a few players have an overly wide two-barrel bluff range but a super tight three-barrel bluff range. You should have probably check-raised the flop with reasonable draws when out of position, as stated earlier. If you instead check-called, you can either check-call again on the turn when getting amazing odds, or check-raise if you think you have reasonable fold equity, especially if the stacks are deep. Remember that you need to accumulate as much fold equity as possible to maximize your equity with a draw when you are not getting the correct pot odds. You should find a trivial fold if you have a terrible draw, such as J-10 on K-9-3-6, and your opponent bets again. As with all bluffs, check-raising becomes an excellent option if a scary turn arrives that you can realistically represent. If you check with 8 -7 on 9 -6 -2 -K and your opponent bets, check-raising is an excellent play if you think he will only continue with a flush. This bluff is like burning money if you know your opponent is a calling station who will never fold any pair in this spot. If you can’t check-raise bluff, you should check with the intention of folding if your opponent bets, because you are now drawing to a hand that could easily be crushed. Especially out of position, it is of the utmost importance to avoid drawing to hands that could easily be second-best. Notice if the river gives you a straight, you still have a bluff catcher. You usually do not want to be drawing to a bluff catcher in a big pot. Think about the hands with which your opponent could easily put a lot of money in the pot. If you will be drawing to a hand that loses to a lot of those hands, you should give it up. Say your weak opponent is scared of the obvious nuts. When a scary turn card arrives, such as when you have 8 -7 on 9 -6 -2 -K , consider leading if he will assume you have the nuts. Clearly, you should not use this play against good players unless you want to add some combinations of the nuts to your range for balancing purposes. If your opponent checks behind on the turn, you should bluff the river when it makes sense. Some players only check back the turn when they are giving up. Others check back with a wide range of value hands, looking to win at showdown. When you make these river bluffs, make sure you figure out who you are against and what moves he’s capable of making. If your opponent raises the flop and you call out of position with a draw, you 197

should tend to check-raise on the turn whether you hit or not, as that is really the only way to give yourself any fold equity. Fold if it is clear your opponent is never folding and you are not getting the proper odds to draw. As always, playing draws passively out of position will put you in terrible situations.

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Multiway On the turn or river in a multiway pot, be aware that hand values change drastically compared to heads-up. While you may be able to call your aggressive opponent on all three streets with middle pair, this will lead to huge losses in multiway action unless your opponents are wild. Be aware of who is capable of value-betting thin and who is only betting with the nuts. You will encounter many more multiway turns and rivers in small- and middle-stakes games, mainly because many bad players are not aggressive, either before or on the flop. If your opponents are clearly not interested in winning the pot, do not be afraid to get out of line and steal it. Remember that as the number of players in a pot increases, you need a much stronger hand to put money in. You can reasonably bet for value on three streets in a three-way pot with A-J on J-10-5-3-2, but you must be much more careful if seven people see the turn.

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Multiway as the Aggressor with a Made Hand In a multiway pot as the aggressor with a strong made hand, such as A-K on K-7-42 or 10 -9 on K -Q -5 -7 , it is usually smart to continue betting on the turn and river for value. Be somewhat quick to fold a strong, one-pair hand if you’re raised, especially if your opponents are very straightforward. As stated earlier, be aware that some weak players will raise with top pair on the turn simply because they do not understand hand values, so make sure you know your opponents’ capabilities before making a big fold. Poker is usually fairly simple when you have a strong hand. All you have to do is bet and get money in the pot. If you bet the turn with a marginally strong hand, such as K-Q on K-9-6-4, and two opponents call, you should still bet all safe rivers for value, as you likely have the best hand. If you check the river, you should usually check-call unless you know your opponents will only bet with strong made hands. Pot-controlling is often a good play, especially when you could easily be crushed and you do not think you can get much value by betting. If you bet the flop with a fairly weak made hand, such as 10-9 on K-10-4, and everyone checks to you on the turn, it is usually smart to check behind and see what develops on the river. If someone bets and another player calls, you can easily fold. You need an abnormally strong hand to overcall, i.e., to call when someone has bet and a player ahead of you has called, because the first caller thinks his hand is good enough to call. If you check behind on the turn with 6 -3 on K -7 -4 -3 -2 , someone bets and another player calls, you should tend to call instead of raise because one of your two opponents is likely to have a flush that beats yours.

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Multiway as the Aggressor with a Bluff When you are multiway as the aggressor with a bluff on the turn, you have to decide whether you can get your opponents off most of their ranges by bluffing the turn and river. It is usually best to give up if you have nothing and to continue betting if you have a strong draw, because checking behind on the turn makes it difficult to get paid off if you hit. Assess your opponents’ ranges and determine whether they will likely fold to significant pressure by the river. For example, if you bet the flop in position with A-J on K-10-5-2 and three players call, betting the turn will be suicidal. Check behind even with Q-J because one of your opponents is quite likely to have top pair and will never fold. You can bet again with the same action holding 9 -8 on 10 -6 -3 -K , because you could easily have the K, your opponents probably do not have the K and you still have a lot of equity when called. If only one player calls, you can make a sizable river bet and often steal the pot, especially if you think your opponent has a fairly wide turncalling range consisting of marginal made hands and draws. If you’re on the river as the aggressor with a hand that is certainly not good in a multiway pot, it is almost always best to check with the intention of giving up. Occasionally, mainly when the turn checks through, you will be able to put all your opponents on weak made hands and make a sizable river bet, allowing you to steal the pot on a scary river, but you should usually concede the pot, as most players will call one more medium-sized bet on the river. A reasonable spot to bluff would be with J -10 on Q -9 -5 -3 -A , assuming you bet the flop and got two callers, you checked behind on the turn and everyone checked to you on the river. An opponent with a flush would usually bet, and he would probably fold to a reasonably large bet with a worse made hand than an A. This leaves his calling range as squarely an A or two pair, which is somewhat unlikely, given the action. Used sparingly, one bluff that works wonderfully is to raise on the river when there is a bet and a call. You can assume the caller does not have the nuts because he would have raised the initial bettor. If you know both of your opponents are fairly straightforward and will assume you are as well, you can put in a river raise and often steal the pot, even if you are representing only the nuts. Most players will give you way too much credit for a strong hand in this situation. You typically want to make this play when you could realistically have the nuts but your opponents cannot. Nevertheless, it’s usually a bad idea to bluff with air into multiple opponents.

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Multiway as the Caller with a Made Hand Proceed with caution if you call a flop bet in a multiway pot, as you will typically be in the dark about your opponents’ ranges. For example, if a TAG raises in middle position, you call in the cutoff with A-J and the button also calls, if both you and the button call a continuation bet from the initial raiser on Q-J-4, you could easily have the best hand or be crushed, depending on your opponents’ tendencies. You should usually fold if either player bets on a safe turn, assuming he seldom bluffs. It is simply too likely one of them is value-betting with a Q. Notice also that players tend not to bluff on the river with nothing into a field of players who clearly have made hands. You should often call if you instead have K-Q, because the river bettor is somewhat likely to be value-betting a worse Q. Even then, your top pair will frequently be nowhere near the best hand. If you have what is likely the nuts on the turn, you should often raise if someone bets into you and check if the aggressor is yet to act, unless you are fairly certain that the flop bettor will check behind on scary cards. For example, say someone limps from early position, you limp in third position with 9 -8 and the button raises to 5 big blinds out of a 100-big blind effective stack. The button, big blind, early-position player and you see a flop of K -Q -7 . Everyone checks to the preflop raiser, who bets 9 big blinds. It’s reasonable to call if one of the two other players calls in between. You can also raise if you think you will have fold equity. Say you turn a flush and it is checked to you. You should often bet if you think the flop bettor will likely check behind with all hands that are worse than a flush. While you would like to balance this play by occasionally bluffing, players, particularly bad ones, will call your turn and river leads, praying you are bluffing, if you don’t bet too large, perhaps around 20 big blinds into the 47-big blind pot. If someone calls, you can either make a small river bet, hoping your opponent calls with his entire range, or go all-in, hoping he thinks you are trying to push him off the pot. Notice that leading the turn could kill your action if the flop bettor will bet the turn with most of his range and continue betting the river, assuming you have a marginal made hand. If you have a hand such as Q-10 on 10-7-6 and the turn is an A, K or J, you should probably check-fold in multiway pots. Again, it is simply too likely someone has you crushed, and you will have to put a lot of money in to get to showdown. If an overcard comes on the turn and you get to see a free river, continue checking, hoping to either induce a bluff, which you would tend to call unless your opponents are weak, or to win at showdown.

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Multiway as the Caller with a Bluff If you see the turn as the caller in a multiway pot with a draw, you probably played the flop passively. If this is the case, folding, calling and raising are all reasonable choices when facing a bet on the turn, depending on its size. You can call a small bet if you have enough outs to justify it. Fold or raise if your opponent bets large and you are not getting the right price to continue. You should usually fold in multiway pots because turn betting ranges are usually much stronger than in headsup pots. This means you will have much less fold equity with a raise unless you are confident your opponents will view it as strong. Also, be aware that you will occasionally run into a better draw. The worse your draw, the more likely you should fold it. If you float in position with a marginal draw, miss on the turn and face a turn bet, you should fold, especially if the pot is still multiway and you are not getting the right price to continue drawing. I am not a fan of risky plays in multiway pots, mainly because they fail so often. While it is nice to show up with a bluff from time to time, most people are playing their hands in a face-up manner and do not worry much about what you are trying to represent.

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Conclusion As you can see, once you make it to the turn and river, you must devote a lot of thought to your opponent’s range to develop a sound strategy. While I may make it seem too easy to navigate these tricky situations, please realize, for example, that to profit, you must only be correct a small percentage of the time to call a river bet, due to the pot odds. In high-stakes games where there is a lot of bluffing, the biggest winners are constantly making their opponents fold superior hands by the river. However, in small- and middle-stakes games where most players are betting when they have a strong hand and checking when they don’t, you may not get the right pot odds to call on the river because your opponents are never bluffing. If you are getting 5:1 pot odds but you know you will win only 5% of the time due to your opponent’s tight river betting range, you should clearly fold. You may need to look your opponents up from time to time, both to figure out what they are doing and to keep them from running over you. One of the most enlightening experiences a tight, straightforward player can have is to start calling aggressive players on the river. Most of these players are shocked to find out how often their opponents are bluffing. For the last time, constantly think about your opponents’ ranges and adjust your default strategy accordingly. I purposely did not lay out too many set-in-stone lines for the turn and river because they simply do not exist. No rule states that you should call down with top pair or fold to a turn raise from a random player. In my eyes, random players do not exist unless you have played online less than an orbit with someone. Everything depends on your opponents’ tendencies. If you can accurately assess what your opponents are doing, you should be able to figure out the optimal line in most situations. That said, you will call down incorrectly, fail at bluffing and miss value on a daily basis. Recognize that this is part of the game and that no one is perfect. All you can do is work hard to improve your skills every time you sit at the table.

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Chapter 6 Common Leaks

When I coach amateurs, if they provide me with adequate hand examples, it is quite easy to pinpoint glaring holes in their strategies. While you will not have the benefit of my personal analysis of your game, I will list and tell you how to identify the most common leaks. Plugging these will drastically increase your win rate. Almost every weak player incorrectly assumes that he and his opponents play a similar strategy. While you certainly must make assumptions about your opponent and his strategy to come up with a reasonable game plan, you must realize that all players think differently. Most tight players think their opponents play tight. Most wild bluffers assume their opponents will call wild bluffs. You have to constantly get in your opponent’s head and try to figure out what he is thinking and why. If you can do this, you will constantly be one step ahead of him, allowing you to make optimal plays in most situations.

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Playing too Tight Most amateur players are either way too tight or way too loose. Most players in small-stakes games are too tight and passive, only wanting to put money in the pot when they are a lock to win. If you find yourself only playing pairs and big cards, you are likely playing too tight. Kick the habit of only thinking about your two hole cards. Most hands do not go to showdown, meaning your cards will only occasionally matter. Some amateurs refuse to play with hands that have huge implied odds because they are “behind” at the moment. They fail to account for huge implied odds with hands such as small pairs and suited connectors. I actually had one student who would limp with small pairs and fold if raised because he didn’t want to play when he had the worst hand. He quickly fixed this error and is now a solid winner. Most tight, passive players also have the huge leak of only re-raising with premium hands before the flop. While re-raising with premium hands before the flop is an integral part of a winning pre-flop strategy, if you only re-raise with premium hands, your competent opponents will quickly realize this and only give you action when they have you beat or are getting the correct implied odds to try to outdraw you. There are three easy ways to figure out if you are re-raising too tight. If you find yourself only re-raising with premium pairs and big cards, you are probably playing too tight. If your opponents almost always fold when you re-raise, you are playing too tight. If your opponents frequently call your re-raise then play straightforwardly after the flop, you are playing too tight. Adding a few bluffs, perhaps as little as 20% of your total re-raising range, will greatly increase your expected value. If you remember back to the pre-flop section, the hands you should add to your range are those not quite good enough to call pre-flop raises, namely AX, K-Xs and weak suited connectors. Re-raising hands such as A-J and K-Q will likely hurt your overall game. Other small-stakes players try to see a lot of flops and play straightforwardly from there. If they make a strong hand, they bet or raise; if they miss, they check or fold. Most opponents are quick to realize that when these players put money in the pot, they have a good hand, and when they don’t, they’re giving up. Some of these weak players attempt to get tricky by check-raising with their strong hands, but they only win a few additional big blinds. The best way to fix this leak is to bet with more than your strong hands when opponents check to you. If you fire whenever your opponents show weakness, you will often steal the pot immediately, especially if they think you play straightforwardly. This will also make you much more difficult to read. If you bet and get one caller, you will usually have additional bluffing opportunities on the turn and river. You do not want to become known as a guy who only bets when he has something. By playing in a straightforward manner, you will constantly spew equity and rarely win large pots once your opponents see 206

what you are doing. Passive players often blindly stack off when they make a hand they perceive as strong. This is usually something like top pair, top kicker or an overpair. Especially when deep-stacked, you should rarely stack off with hands such as A-A after the flop unless you have a wild image. If your opponent thinks you only put a lot of money in the pot when you have a premium hand, then unless he is a maniac, he crushes most premium pre-flop hands if he is willing to put his stack in. It is not uncommon to see a passive player raise with A-A, continuation-bet the flop and turn, get check-raised, then put the rest of his stack in. The optimal line is to either check back the turn, hoping to induce a bluff from your opponent, or bet the turn for value with the intention of folding if check-raised. While it is never fun to fold AA, betting for value with the intention of folding if raised is an excellent play if you’re sure your opponent will only raise when he has A-A beat. As you develop a looser, more aggressive strategy, you should be a bit more willing to continue with these hands because your opponents will be more willing to bluff or overvalue worse made hands. For this reason, loose, aggressive players actually win much more with their premium hands than do tight, passive players. Particularly tight players have the problem of folding reasonably strong hands to standard levels of aggression. I once taught a player who would raise with a wide range pre-flop, continuation-bet only with draws and middle pair or better, then check-fold top pair or worse on the turn or river. He failed to realize that by checking, he induced his opponent to both value-bet worse made hands and to bluff. He had such bad memories of being beat a few times that he was willing to give up whenever he did not have the nuts if his opponent was still in the hand on the turn. Obviously, his opponents demolished him by simply floating the flop and betting the turn when he checked to them. If you are going to take a line that will make your opponent overvalue his made hands and induce bluffs, you cannot fold strong toppair hands. These particularly tight players also fail to get value from their premium hands, either slow-playing way too much or betting way too small. It is not uncommon to see a tight player raise with A -3 , continuation bet a K -10 -4 board and check down, hoping his opponent bets. These players make the poor assumption that their opponent will only call a turn bet if he has a flush. If these tight players bet with the nuts, they often bet tiny, hoping to keep their opponent in the pot. This just forfeits value from strong, but second-best, made hands while giving an opponent excellent implied odds when drawing. The tight players tend to see monsters in the closet when facing extreme aggression with a second-nut hand. They often just call a sizable river bet with a hand such as 7-7 on J-7-4-2-2. The tight player’s logic is that his opponent will only call with J-J or 2-2 if he raises, making a call the best play. While this is occasionally true, quite a few opponents call river raises far too often with hands 207

as weak as Q-J. When you make a very strong hand, unless you have an unusually good reason to play timidly, you should try to get the money in.

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Playing too Loose On the opposite end of the spectrum, some loose and aggressive players try to win every pot they enter. Playing aggressively, actively attacking pots when everyone shows weakness, is an excellent strategy, but it can become quite costly when taken to the extreme. Many unseasoned online players will raise and re-raise against a tight player on a board such as K-7-3-2 with a stone bluff, thinking the tight player must have at least a set to put his stack in. This may be true, but when the tight player puts in the first raise, it should be clear he has a premium hand he doesn’t plan on folding. When your opponent has a range made up mostly of top-pair and better hands, you should not get too out of line unless you are confident he is very willing to fold to your aggression. If you are constantly attacking pots, your opponents will eventually figure this out and stop folding reasonably strong hands when you apply pressure. It is good to be somewhat out of line, but it’s bad strategy to be extremely out of line all the time. Loose players fall into the trap of calling with speculative hands when not getting the correct implied odds, especially when out of position. In position, your implied odds can be a little lower because you should occasionally win the pot when your opponent gives up or the flop is good for your perceived range. Suppose you raise to $30 out of your $1,200 stack at $5/$10 from middle position and a TAG reraises to $120 on the button. At the most, you are getting 13:1 implied odds. Since your opponent has position and is going to play fairly well, you should fold almost all implied-odds hands. If he is not a good player, you should probably continue with small pairs but fold everything else. You can continue with small pairs because you will know on the flop if you have a strong hand – you either flop a set or you don’t. With the suited hands, you will usually flop nothing or a draw, which is not what you want when the stacks are shallow compared to the pot and your opponent has a strong range. If your opponent made it $80 instead of $120, you could be more inclined to take flops with your entire range of implied-odds hands because you would now get, at most, 23:1. Always assess your implied odds and your opponent’s tendencies and determine whether you are getting the correct price to continue. Some players, especially those who either play or have studied the typical LAG strategy, think their opponents are constantly trying to bluff them. They think their opponents are running bluffs every time they apply pressure, whereas in reality, their opponents, especially the tight and passive ones, tend to have the nuts. It is not uncommon to go on a bad run where you get re-raised on multiple hands on varying streets in a short period of time. Sometimes you will simply have the worst hand in many consecutive pots. While some aggressive opponents may be trying to outplay you, everyone else likely has a good hand. Do not start calling down tight or passive players with a wide range, hoping to catch their bluffs. Even if you have 209

folded every hand for the last hour, most unobservant opponents will not get too far out of line.

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Chapter 7 Playing against Specific Player Types

While each player is unique, you can reasonably assign a player type to everyone. By figuring out how the standard player of each type acts in most situations, you can make assumptions about a player, despite having played very few hands with him. By assuming, for example, that all tight, passive and weak opponents play in a similar manner, you can profitably adjust your strategy against all of them. Figure out how to play against all the player types listed below and develop additional player types that describe opponents you encounter at the table. Determine what your actual opponent does incorrectly. No set of generic observations replaces attention paid at the table and the dissection of each player’s specific strategy.

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Tight, Passive, Weak Players A tight, passive, weak player assumes his opponent always has him beat unless he has an abnormally strong hand. These players typically either limp in with most of the hands they play or they make huge raises, hoping to make their opponents fold before the flop. They tend to only play hands usually defined as strong, such as good pairs and big cards, although some will play weaker hands such as A -3 and 9 -7 . Against these players, raise pre-flop if they limp and fire multiple, somewhat large barrels on most boards. If they raise pre-flop, call with a wide range and look to raise a lot of flops or float the flop with the intention of raising a lot of turns. If you raise on any street and your opponent calls, or if he raises when you bet, you should assume he has a strong hand he does not plan to fold. You usually have one street to apply maximum pressure. If your opponent stands up to your maximum-pressure bet, he will probably not fold later in the hand. Ideally, you want to take lines that allow you to win every pot from this player type whenever he lacks a premium hand. If a tight, passive, weak player gets fed up with your constant aggression and calls you down with a reasonable, but marginal holding, take note and adjust accordingly.

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Tight, Passive, Thinking Players A tight, passive, thinking player is similar to a tight, passive, weak player except he knows he looks weak. Because of this, he will occasionally raise as a bluff or call down with a wider range than his weaker counterparts. This should lead you to not bluff these players as often, and also to call down from time to time when you think they are making a play at you. While tight, passive players are usually the easiest to play against, they become tough to combat when they sporadically bluff and call down with hands such as middle pair, especially if your range is full of junk. It is usually best to play in a fairly loose, aggressive manner while not investing too much money on any one bluff.

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Loose, Passive, Weak Players who Frequently Play Straightforwardly Look to barrel these players with a wide range, similar to the way you play against tight, passive, weak players. They tend to limp in with a wide range, hoping to flop a premium hand. They play a much wider range than tight, weak, passive players, often limping in with hands such as 9 -7 , A -3 and K -5 . When they make a marginal hand, they tend to call down a bit more often than tight, weak, passive players, but still fold more than they should, if you apply enough pressure. When these players take an overly aggressive action, such as check-raising on the turn, assume they have a strong holding they do not plan to fold. Some will overvalue top pair, thinking their K -5 on K -J -6 must be the best hand. If that is the case, do not be scared to call down with decent top-pair hands such as A-K or K-Q. Some of these players will only raise with premium hands on the flop, such as K-J and 66 in the previous example. Ditch A-K and K-Q when they raise, because you are crushed by their super-tight raising range. Figure out your opponent’s raising range and play accordingly.

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Loose, Passive, Weak Players who Bluff Often While most loose, passive, weak players are fairly straightforward, only raising when they have a strong hand, the ones who bluff often are not scared to get out of line and fight for pots when they think you will fold. If you know a player is prone to bluff, try to put money in the pot with hands that can withstand some pressure. This should lead you to take more pot-control lines with most marginal made hands. While most players who are limping in with a wide range seldom bluff, be aware that this player type does exist. If a guy limping in with a wide range frequently applies a lot of pressure on the flop or turn, you must realize he is likely bluffing often. Recognize this and adjust.

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Tight, Aggressive Players who Overplay Top Pair Most of your opponents who have learned a bit about the game but fail to grasp solid post-flop fundamentals will be tight, aggressive players who overplay top pair. They tend to play mostly strong hands before the flop by applying a lot of pressure. Do not be surprised if they rarely call, instead raising and re-raising most of their playable hands before the flop. They typically overvalue hands such as top pair after the flop, even when they are clearly crushed. These players are usually good enough to beat small-stakes games, where their opponents overvalue top pair with bad kickers, but are small losers in higher-stakes games where their opponents can identify their ranges and act accordingly. This player typically makes top pair, top kicker and then piles his stack in. Knowing this, good players can wait for a hand that can beat top pair and also get all-in. This player doesn’t understand how he could raise with A -K , flop K -7 -6 and still lose. He thinks he is unlucky, but he frequently allows his opponents to realize their full implied odds when they enter a pot because he fails to get away from obviously beat hands. The best way to attack these players is to simply make a hand that can beat top pair, top kicker and get the money in. You will usually lose an initial raise when you miss and win 100 big blinds or more when you flop well. It is important to not play hands that allow you to make top pair with a bad kicker, such as K -10 and A -10 . Those hands will get you in a lot of trouble. Instead, play mostly hands with huge implied odds, such as 9 -8 and 4 -4 .

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Good, Tight, Aggressive Players Good, tight, aggressive players tend to make few errors. They usually raise and reraise with a slightly wider range of hands than does a typical tight, aggressive player, and are capable of folding normally strong hands in the right circumstances. Against good, thinking opponents, you should strive to either be one step ahead of them, which will pay huge rewards, assuming you typically win the leveling war, or to play as close to game theory optimal as possible, which will lead to small wins or breaking even. I personally like to stay one step ahead of my opponents. This requires you to alter your strategy based on how you expect your opponents to adjust. For example, if you think a good, tight, aggressive player will check-raise the flop with hands such as top pair, draws and the nuts, and fold everything else, you should fold every time he check-raises unless you have a strong hand or premium draw. If you think he will check-raise the flop with mostly bluffs, you should re-raise or call when he check-raises, depending on your hand and his turn tendencies. While most of these players try to be balanced, raising with ranges that are difficult to play against, if you can get inside their heads, you stand to win a decent amount of money even though they are winners in the game.

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Loose, Overly Aggressive Players These players get a little more out of line than they should. They run bluffs at inopportune times and overvalue hands such as middle pair, assuming their opponents must also play wildly. Your best strategy against them is to simply wait for a reasonable hand and don’t fold without an excellent reason. You can also value-bet a bit more thinly than normal, expecting them to level themselves into calling down with too many hands. Bluffing these players is usually not a good idea because they often find a way to continue even when facing extreme aggression. However, if you have a tight dynamic with your specific opponent such that he assumes you will never bluff, feel free to fire away.

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Good, Loose, Aggressive Players Good, loose, aggressive players usually make few errors while putting you in numerous difficult situations, making them perhaps the most difficult type of opponent you will encounter. Clearly, if your opponent’s decisions are easy while yours are difficult, you will make more errors, allowing him to win money from you. These players are usually capable of running over you if you let them, and also have a good idea of when you will start playing back at them. Because of this, you must constantly play your “A” game and try to figure out which level they are on. Try to make them assume you are capable of running large bluffs whereas you will actually have strong hands when you put a lot of money in the pot. You can also portray yourself as a tight, uncreative player who only puts money in with the nuts. You can then raise and re-raise with a wide range on scary flops, hoping to make your opponent fold most of his range. Be aware of your image and how your opponent is likely to respond to it. My most enlightening experiences at the table usually occur when playing against good, loose, aggressive players. You will have a difficult time beating them, but will likely find yourself in prime learning situations when they are at your table. Do your best to keep your eyes and ears open in the heat of battle to learn new ways to put your opponents in bad spots.

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Bad Maniacs Bad maniacs overplay their hands in many ways. They raise and re-raise too many hands from all positions. They usually aren’t aware when their opponents are clearly not folding. They are some of the biggest losers in the game. However, this does not mean they will make things easy for you. Any time you enter a pot with a bad maniac, you risk having to put your entire stack in the pot. Be aware that hands such as top pair with a marginal kicker become fairly strong when your opponent is going all-in with everything from the nuts to 8-high. You should usually look to call down with your decently strong made hands. Do not raise with them because you run the risk of forcing your opponent off whatever trash he has. Accept that sometimes you will call down with the worst hand. When you know your opponent is looking for any reason at all to bluff, give him the opportunities he desires by displaying what he perceives as weakness.

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Good Maniacs Good maniacs are much more aware of their opponent’s range than their bad counterparts. Hence, they are capable of applying maximum pressure when you are at your weakest and slowing down when you have a strong hand. Your only reasonable pre-flop adjustments against a good maniac are to play a fairly tight opening range, allowing you to easily continue on most boards, and to apply pressure by four-betting frequently. Perhaps the best adjustment you can make against good, thinking players is to be one step ahead of them.

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Players who Mix it up Well Try to play as close to game theory optimal as possible against someone who mixes it up well, unless you think you can beat him in the leveling war. There is nothing wrong with staying out of an excellent player’s way. If you start with a strong range of hands, you shouldn’t lose too much money to anyone. If you are beating everyone else at your table, it is not the end of the world to lose a little bit to one player. But this should not be your goal. Study these players and figure out what they are doing that makes it so difficult to play against them. Emulate them as best you can while trying to understand why and how they make your decisions tough.

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Regulars who do not Vary Their Game If you play regularly with someone who does not vary his game, you must quickly pinpoint his leaks and take actions to exploit him. Clearly, you figure out what these players do incorrectly by first knowing how to play well yourself. You must pay attention to figure out what they are doing wrong. If you are zoned out or playing with your phone at the poker table, do not expect to accomplish this too quickly. Once you figure out what your opponent does incorrectly, adjust your strategy to exploit him. For example, if you know a specific player only check-raises the flop with top pair or better, continue only with premium made hands and draws when he check-raises, assuming you are getting proper odds. If you know a player only continuation-bets with a reasonable hand, try to win the pot every time he fails to continuation-bet. Your opponent will eventually figure out what you are doing and adjust, but until then, make it a point to win as much money from him as possible.

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Regulars who Frequently Play with You Against regulars who frequently play with you, make it a point to alter your game based on how you think they think you play. This is where the real leveling war begins. Against these players, you must figure out what they expect you to do. If you can figure out how your opponents view you as well as how they think you view them, you can adjust your game to be one step ahead. If you find that your opponents usually fold when you value-bet or call when you bluff, they are one step ahead of you. You have to adjust so that they are the ones making the mistakes. Do not continue with the same failing strategy, hoping it will eventually work. To be a world-class poker player, you must be able to adjust quickly and effectively.

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Stereotypes Stereotypes can and should be extremely useful when you first start playing with someone, but they should become fairly irrelevant after a short time. Although each player has his own unique tendencies, you should not assume each player is a completely blank slate when you first sit down to the table. On the first hand you play with someone, if you treat a 20-year-old kid slurping energy drinks exactly the same as an 80-year-old-man who is falling asleep, you will certainly spew equity. Using the following stereotypes intelligently should significantly increase your win rate in the long run. That said, your goal should be to quickly gather enough information about your opponents that you can adjust your play to their specific tendencies, rendering the stereotypes fairly useless. Please feel no hostility towards me for presenting these stereotypes. I am simply trying to explain how excellent poker players perceive their opposition when they first arrive at the table. I have not listed too many details about any demographic because there is not that much to say. When you base your reads on scant information – in this case, how a player looks – you should not put too much stock in them.

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Young Guys Young players seem to be either mild mannered or wild. Mild mannered young guys, who usually dress fairly well and are not loud and obnoxious at the table, tend to be of varying tightness. They usually raise and re-raise a few more hands than you would expect a typical TAG to raise. They tend to apply significant pressure pre-flop, rarely calling. They usually play well post-flop, although they may fold to a fair amount of pressure, usually assuming you must have a strong hand to raise the turn or river. The wild kids tend to be overly LAG, often trying to push their opponent out of the pot whenever they think they can get away with it. They tend to call a bit more than the mild mannered kids, with the intention of making plays after the flop when the situation seems ideal. Wild kids occasionally try to run huge bluffs in speculative situations. They may tilt when their bluffs fail. However, they are usually the toughest to play against due to their high level of aggression and their dynamic hand ranges. Most young kids at the poker table are winners due to the fact that most people in their age group do not have the disposable income necessary to play middle- and high-stakes poker. Coming up with $500 to gamble would be difficult for most 21year-old kids. If you see a kid playing $10/$20 with $5,000 in front of him, he is almost certainly a professional, or perhaps he has rich parents. Either way, you should usually assume young kids are strong, winning poker players.

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Middle-Aged Guys Like young kids, middle-aged guys tend to come in two varieties. Let’s call them businessmen and the gambling guys. The businessmen, who are fairly clean-cut and dress somewhat nicely, tend to play a TAG or TP strategy, although they can occasionally be LP. You should generally expect them to have a reasonably strong hand when a lot of money goes in the pot. This makes them prime candidates to value-bet on all three streets with hands such as top pair with a good kicker, with the intention of folding if raised. They tend to overvalue hands such as top pair and overpairs, so if you can beat top pair, top kicker, you should probably not fold if they want to put a lot of money in the pot. The gambling guys are usually much more laid back than the businessmen. They tend to be TP, LP, or LAG. While most middle-aged businessmen do not run bluffs, some gambling men are more than capable. They usually telegraph their bluffs by playing them in a very unbalanced manner, probably due to their lack of understanding of the fundamentals of poker. Like businessmen, these players tend to overvalue any reasonably strong made hand, so if you can beat top pair, don’t be scared to put money in the pot. Unlike kids, who have to win their money at the poker table, middle-aged men often have a job that provides enough disposable income to gamble. For this reason, you should assume they are fairly weak players. Of course, some will be excellent players and some will be atrocious. Remember, just because someone has enough money to sit down at a table does not mean he belongs there.

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Older Guys Older guys, perhaps 60 years old and up, tend to be tighter. They are usually looking for a way to pass time while perhaps winning a little money. If they want to put a lot of money in the pot, they usually have a premium hand. Look for situations where you can bet the flop and turn with a wide range, hoping to force them off most of their non-nut range. Some of these players will call the flop and turn with the intention of folding to a river bet. Some will never fold once they call a flop bet. That is why your goal should be to figure out your specific opponent’s tendencies as quickly as possible. Although most older players are tight, some of them, especially in the bigger games, get way out of line, abusing their tight image. I know one player who frequents the high-stakes games at Bellagio who generally plays tight. In big pots, he has a strong hand around 80% of the time. His bluffs work like magic.

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Women Women tend to be tighter and more passive. Because of this, they can typically be pushed around. My general strategy is to fire flop and turn bets when bluffing, with the intention of giving up if they call the turn. I think most women, at least in the middle- and high-stakes games, have figured out that men are either too passive against them, giving them a break, which is obviously a terrible decision, or are overly aggressive, trying to push them around. Because of this, if a woman calls your flop and turn bets, you should be fairly certain she will not fold the river, at least until you have more information. As poker becomes more mainstream, expect to see more females at the table. Over time, I expect women play more like men, due to the volume of training content available.

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Asians Asian players are either wild, or they play tight but make you think they are wild. Against the maniacal Asians, look to induce bluffs and call down with any sort of made hand. Realize they will attack weakness whenever possible, meaning you should not fold too many strong holdings. The tightest Asian players are often the most talkative. I think the best Asian players in the world are those who play a TAG strategy but get paid off as if they are maniacs. They do this by constantly being seen and heard, although they rarely put chips in the pot. Do not assume all Asians are overly aggressive just because they are Asian.

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African-Americans African-American players tend to be LPs. They like to see a lot of flops with the intention of getting value when they hit, which you of course will not provide, while occasionally running insane bluffs. Your general strategy should be to continuation-bet the flop and turn somewhat frequently, with the intention of folding if they apply significant pressure on any street. Expect them to overvalue hands such as top pair.

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Indians Indian players are similar to African-Americans, although they tend to be a bit tighter. They like seeing flops with a somewhat wide range but play passively after the flop unless they improve to a strong hand. For this reason, you should assume they have a strong holding if they put a lot of chips in the pot.

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Western Europeans Western European players tend to be aggressive, with varying degrees of looseness. They seem very willing to make wild bluffs if they make sense. Since poker exploded in Europe a few years ago, it seems that the general population plays reasonably well, although they tend to be too aggressive in my opinion. This should lead you to call down with a fairly wide range when you think their range is polarized.

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South Americans South American players tend to be crazy. They are not scared to raise and re-raise pre-flop, with the intention of blasting off after the flop if they perceive you to be weak. Because of this, the best strategy is usually to make a somewhat strong hand, and then act as if you have a marginal bluff catcher. They are often mediocre to good hand readers, allowing you to occasionally win the pot with a well-timed bluff. Because their range tends to be so wide, if you attack them infrequently, you should experience a high degree of success.

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Chapter 8 Playing with Different Stack Sizes

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Playing with Larger Stacks As stack sizes get larger, over 150 big blinds, big pairs and big cards, such as A-A and K-Q, lose some value due to the increased implied odds of drawing hands, such as A -3 , 7 -6 and 3-3. Whereas with stacks smaller than 100 big blinds, it is rarely a huge error to stack off with a big pair on the flop against reasonably aggressive opposition, when stacks grow to over 150 big blinds, one pair is usually a losing hand when a lot of money goes in. As stacks get deeper, conserving your stack becomes an important factor that should lead you to pot-control on at least one street with your good, but not great holdings, especially if you expect your opponent to apply pressure in reasonable spots. After the flop, draws become excellent hands with which to apply maximum pressure, because your opponents will have a hard time continuing with most made hands. Still, you must be well aware of your opponents and their tendencies. If you are playing someone who will simply never fold top pair, it would be a huge mistake to pile in money with a mediocre draw, hoping to maxi mize fold equity, because you have none. Hence, it is ideal to discuss how to play with varying stack sizes against specific player types instead of detailing how to play each type of hand. You want to size your bets a bit larger than with 100-big blind stacks on all betting rounds. Your pre-flop open-raise size can venture to the 3.5- or 4-big blind range, assuming you still get action from junky hands. Feel free to raise smaller if you are not getting action with these larger raises. Remember, the main reason for a specific pre-flop raise size is to allow you to easily get all-in by the river if you make a premium hand. With 150-big blind or larger stacks, it will be nearly impossible to get all-in by the river if you make a 2.5- or 3-big blind pre-flop raise, unless you make large post-flop bets. When the stacks are overly deep, you can get away with making bets that are larger than the size of the pot, perhaps as much as three times the size of the pot, especially on the turn or river if you know how they will make your opponent react. One of my favorite plays is to make huge bets on the river when I have the nuts and I know my opponent has a hand he views as nearly the nuts. This is often the case when I river the nut flush and I know my opponent will fold all non-flush hands to any bet but will call almost any amount if he has a flush. This is an excellent opportunity to make a large overbet. You can also flip this concept on its head against players who think they are strong hand readers. Particularly if you have already shown down an overbet for value, you can then use it as a bluff. You can often get a good, but not great player off almost his entire range. However, if you make large overbets incorrectly, you will lose way too much money when you are bluffing and miss out on loads of value with strong made hands. Below I suggest running a fair number of multi-street bluffs when deep-stacked. Use these plays sparingly unless your opponents will clearly let you run them over. 236

One of the best feelings in the world is to be in a cash game where your opponents will fold to significant aggression unless they have the nuts. If you can find a game like that, play like an intelligent maniac. Assuming your opponents are somewhat competent, if you are not too out of line on a regular basis, the occasional large bluff will work out nicely, especially if you would play your premium hands in the same manner. Against TPs, focus on playing hands that have the potential to beat A-A. Most TPs will be unable to fold A-A on any board that is not super draw-heavy. Hence, you should almost always call a pre-flop raise, and perhaps even a re-raise, with any pair. For example, say a LAG raises to 3 big blinds and a TP re-raises to 9 big blinds out of his 200-big blind stack. Strongly consider calling with 3-3 on the button unless you think the LAG might four-bet. You stand to double up if you hit a 3. You will lose your fairly small investment if you miss. Don’t call re-raises with suited connectors because, even deep-stacked, you will usually not be getting the correct implied odds to cold-call. You should occasionally look to run large bluffs against TPs, especially on scary boards. If your opponent will view his A-A as a marginal hand on 9 -8 -3 -7 or 10 -10 -4 and will fold to a raise plus additional barrels on the later streets, feel free to blast away. Of course, a good player will call your raise with premium hands and call down, but most weak TPs call the initial raise and fold once it is clear you want to put your entire stack in by the river. Against LPs, look to raise their limps often, with the intention of firing multiple barrels, if they are capable of folding most marginal made hands by the river. You can also attack scary boards as you should do against TPs, although you must recognize that LPs may hold random cards that connect well with coordinated boards in their range. So proceed with a bit of caution. Most of your value against these players will come from value-betting all three streets with hands such as top pair. LPs will almost always raise with premium hands and call with marginal made hands, allowing you to confidently know where you stand most of the time. Against TAGs, look to call their pre-flop raises and apply pressure on boards that are good for your range and bad for theirs, again similar to the way you play against TPs. The main difference is that you can almost always count on a TAG to be a decent, but not great hand reader, allowing you to trick him into thinking you must have a premium holding if you want to put your stack in. Hence, you shouldn’t blindly pile your stack in if you can beat a range consisting of mostly overpairs, because your opponent will fold. This should lead you to slow-play a bit more unless you are known to constantly run bluffs. If you raise and a TAG re-raises, you should usually call with hands that are getting the proper implied odds, and fight back on boards that are good for your range. If the flop misses your hand, it’s bad for your range and your opponent continues betting, which he frequently will, you should make a trivial fold. Do not 237

fall into the habit of constantly attacking a TAG’s continuation bets when it is clear he has a reasonably strong range. Because most TAGs start with strong pre-flop cards, they tend to make strong post-flop hands, especially on high-card boards. If you flop what is likely the nuts in a re-raised pot, you should often check-raise the flop so you can get stacks in by the river. If you discover that your TAG opponent frequently folds to your flop check-raises, start adding bluffs to your check-raising range. Similar to TPs, most TAGs are incapable of folding A-A in a re-raised pot to any sort of standard action. However, most will release this hand to a turn raise, making this play an excellent option as a bluff but a terrible line for value. You can assume that LAGs are rather far out of line most of the time, especially if they think you are not a calling station and you will fold to significant aggression. Most LAGs will play in a manner I outlined above until you prove you can look them up for a fair sum of money. If you raise pre-flop and a LAG three-bets, do not be afraid to four-bet. Most LAGs, particularly at small and medium stakes, will have much less experience dealing with four-bets than they do in three-bet pots. When you four-bet, you should usually be looking to bet at least the flop and the turn, forcing your opponent to put his stack at risk by the river if you decide to fire the last bullet. You should generally size your bets a bit smaller as stacks get shallower because most opponents will fold if they have nothing and will never fold if they have a hand they perceive as strong. Playing deep-stacked poker against a good LAG makes for an exciting game. However, most of your profits will come from pushing your weaker opponents around, not from tangling with LAGs. Look to set maniacs up to bluff off their stack whenever possible. You can often get a 100-big blind stack in by just checking every street, but you have to take an aggressive action at some point when deeper. Your goal should be to figure out when the maniac will think you are bluffing, allowing you to put money in while appearing weak to him. Some maniacs will view pre-flop re-raises as weak and will attack them relentlessly. Others assume you must have nothing if you raise the flop. Against better maniacs, you try to bluff in spots where they will assume you must have a premium hand. A reasonable strategy is to develop a tight image and then start bluffing. I have had decent success, especially when card-dead, by attacking the most active player at the table if he is reasonably good, because he thinks I must be a nit. You will make a huge amount of money by trapping maniacs, but you can also get out of line and bluff them out of their seats if they think you would be insane to try such a play. Be prepared to bet three streets for value with a wide range of made hands against calling stations. While it is fairly common to bet just two streets with hands such as top or middle pair, if you know your opponent never folds, try to get three sizable value bets in. Most players in smaller-stakes games only bet the river with a polarized range filled with the nuts and stone bluffs. Because of this, some players have developed a strategy of calling down fairly wide, which is not a bad 238

adjustment as long as their opponents bluff too often. To take advantage of this, you should value-bet all your medium-strength hands, especially on the river, when your calling station opponents will be prepared to look you up with a wide range of made hands. While you may occasionally lose these pots, realize you only have to have the best hand 50% of the time when called to profit. Against extreme calling stations, middle pair will be good around 70% of the time, allowing you to easily value-bet and profit.

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Playing with Shorter Stacks At a standard cash game, it is not uncommon to see stacks that vary from 40 big blinds all the way up to 200 big blinds. Your strategy against the shorter stacks should vary greatly from your strategy against deeper-stacked players. Do not treat all stack sizes the same. If you have a 100-big blind stack and your opponent has 50 big blinds, you must play as if you both have the shorter stacks. As stacks shrink to around 50 big blinds or less, pairs and big cards skyrocket in value and hands that normally have implied odds, such as suited connectors and A -X , lose value. This is because you can kill your opponent’s implied odds by getting all-in with top pair on the flop or turn. Unless your opponents are incredibly tight and passive, getting all-in pre-flop with hands such as J-J and A-K will never be an error. Once you raise or re-raise, you will often have enough of your stack in the pot that it would be a fairly large error to fold with your strongest hands even if your opponent’s range was fairly tight. With drawing hands such as small pairs, suited connectors and suited aces, it becomes mandatory to see a cheap flop or turn your hand into a semi-bluff by re-raising before the flop. If you raise to 2.5 big blinds out of a 40-big blind stack with 3-3 and someone re-raises to 8 big blinds, you cannot profitably call. This should lead you to fold most speculative hands from early position, especially if a re-raise is likely. When short-stacked, your initial raise size should shrink, perhaps as small as a min-raise. This allows you to open-raise a fairly wide range of hands without losing too much when your opponents play back at you. Your continuation-bet and re-raise sizes should also shrink dramatically. For example, if someone raises to 2.5 big blinds and you want to re-raise, making it 6 big blinds is usually good with a 50-big blind stack. This will apply some pressure and make it easy to get your stack in by the river. While I suggest a reasonable amount of bluffing with deep stacks, it’s better to play in a fairly tight, straightforward manner with shallow stacks, because there’s no room to get out of line. Large bluffs fail with short stacks for the same reason they succeed with deep stacks. To make your opponent fold a large hand, you have to force him to risk a lot of money. With 50-big blind stacks, few players are folding A-A on al most any board. Most of your profit will come from taking small stabs at the pot when your opponent’s range is weak, and showing up with better hands at showdown. You should generally assume TPs have a strong hand whenever they want to put money in the pot. This should lead you to quickly ditch all your marginal made hands when they show aggression. You can usually value-bet hands such as top pair when a TP checks to you, but fold to a raise. You can attack a TP’s limp on the flop and perhaps the turn, but these weak players usually have a strong hand and no intention of folding if they call your turn bet. You can call a TP’s pre-flop raise 240

with a drawing hand, but fold if you completely miss the flop unless you know your opponent will assume you have the nuts if you raise. With shorter stacks, you should lean a bit toward slow-playing hands that are not susceptible to many turn and river cards, because your opponent will rarely be getting the right price to outdraw you. The worst thing you can do is to raise with 2-2 on 7-6-2 and see a TP fold A-K or 8-7. As always, try to figure out your opponent’s range and act accordingly. Against LPs, especially those who limp often, look to raise their limps relentlessly, perhaps to around 3.5 big blinds if there is only one limper. You can then make half-pot continuation bets with your entire range and often pick up the pot. As against a TP, if the LP wants to put his stack in, he likely has a hand he doesn’t plan to fold. You can usually value-bet on multiple streets against LPs because they often call down with marginal hands, suspecting you are bluffing. You should often go all-in or fold when a TAG re-raises before the flop. Calling out of position is a huge error because you will be playing a large pot with a marginal holding. You can occasionally slow-play with A-A and K-K by only calling a TAG’s re-raise, but that will eventually turn your hand face-up when he realizes you are rarely calling. Usually, when semi-bluffing before the flop, if you can go all-in for between 5 and 9 times his pre-flop re-raise, it will tend to show a profit if you have some fold equity. See my book, Secrets of Professional Tournament Poker, Volume 1, for a full treatment on maximizing fold equity in short-stacked situations. You should really get out of line when LAGs re-raise you, especially if you are known to be a tight player who isn’t willing to put his stack at risk without a strong holding. It is amazing how many LAGs fail to adjust to playing with shorter stacks. There is also value in floating the continuation bets of LAGs who will bet the flop and give up on the turn. When you bluff, make sure you take a realistic line your opponent thinks you would take with a strong hand. Do not constantly attempt unbelievable bluffs. Your opponents will quickly catch on and call you down with a wide range. Against maniacs, check-call down with all your reasonably strong made hands, such as with A-J on Q-J-3. While your opponent will occasionally have you beat, most bad maniacs can find a way to bluff all-in by the river. Since you know your opponent is going to blast off with his entire range, you cannot be scared to make fairly large calls. Trying to bluff a maniac is usually not a wise play with short stacks, unless you think he is certain you are tight. Continue to value-bet thinly against calling stations. Recognize that you will often be all-in by the river, which is perfectly fine if you are confident your opponent will call you down with a wide range of junk. One of the greatest errors you can make when playing short-stacked is to let your opponent off the hook for a sizable river bet when he would have called. Assess your opponent’s range and calling tendencies and value-bet accordingly. 241

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Chapter 9 Other Skills

This section covers everything you must comprehend and master to maximize your equity as a live poker player. Some skills, such as playing in the casino, may seem obvious, but you’d be amazed how many players perform standard exercises, such as parking their car, in massively –EV ways. I will also discuss many other things you must master, such as bankroll management and game selection, if you want to make it as a poker player. I’ll discuss how to stay focused, which will allow you to accurately pick up tells and avoid tilt. Finally, I will discuss how to lead a balanced life, helping you avoid costly life leaks that regularly obliterate bankrolls and lives. I learned these skills through years of logical thinking, diligent practice and failure. Luckily, I am a marginally fast learner. I hope you can avoid the headaches and heartache I have endured in mastering the material in this section.

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Live Poker There is much more to playing in a live casino than simply showing up and sitting in a game. While most poker players already do many of the things listed here, if you pick up one additional tip, you will save a lot of time and money in the future.

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Parking When you go to a casino, especially an unfamiliar one, make it a point to find a safe parking spot. The valet is usually a decent choice because you can wait inside the casino or in a semi-protected lounge while waiting for your car to arrive. Nothing has been stolen from my car, but I have heard a few stories from friends who haven’t been so fortunate. If you are going to park in the valet lot, don’t leave anything valuable in your car. If the valet is not an option, you should ideally park in a well-lit space close to the casino entrance. Try to avoid elevators and stairs. Don’t park next to giant vans and trucks. If you have a problem remembering where you’ve parked, write it down. The last thing you want to do is aimlessly walk around a dimly lit garage with a pile of money in your pocket. If you get lost in the garage, be sure to walk with confidence. If you act as if you know what you are doing, people will usually assume you do, and they’ll leave you alone. If you must take money into the parking garage, consider separating it into multiple pockets so that if someone robs you, they may not get all your money. I once heard of a trick where you get 50 $1 bills and put a $100 bill on the outside of them, wrapped in a rubber band. Keep this “dummy wad” with you whenever you are at risk to be robbed. If someone acts as if he is going to rob you, throw the dummy wad such that the robber has to run away from you to get it. Say something like, “Here’s my money. Take it!” After you throw the wad, you run the other way with the real money safe in your pocket. Try to avoid other people when walking to and from your car in a parking garage. Avoid dark areas. Try not to walk near giant vehicles. You don’t want to walk near anything that can conceal a criminal. If you see someone acting shady, don’t be afraid to start yelling. Most thieves don’t want to cause a scene. If they get you, give them whatever they want. Money is not worth dying over. Try to remember what the person looks like and file a report as soon as possible with both casino security and the police. If you are a high roller, you may be able to ask a casino security guard to walk you to your car. If he makes you feel safe, tip him nicely. If you have a tough time figuring out where to park, ask the floor man, dealers and other players. There is a valet near the poker room at most major casinos, allowing for a speedy entrance and exit.

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Do Not Carry a Lot of Cash Whenever possible, do not carry cash to and from the casino. Almost all casinos offer lock boxes at the poker cage. You will probably have to pay a small fee to get a box, but it is well worth it, especially if you play high-stakes. If your casino does not offer security boxes, you can leave your money at the main casino cage in a “front money” account, which is similar to a standard savings account at a bank, except you collect no interest. If you have a box, visit it after every session, whether or not you are taking money home with you. If a thief is scoping you out, he will see you visit your box and assume you have little or no cash on you. Consider keeping some money in the form of casino chips, assuming you regularly play at the same casino. This will make cashing in and out much easier, especially if you are buying into large games. On the tournament poker circuit, $5,000 Bellagio chips are generally treated like cash between poker players. It is much easier to carry $100,000 in chips than in cash, especially if you know someone will be willing to trade cash for chips. To buy in and cash out as quickly as possible, do not make a transaction at the cage for more than $3,000. This amount requires most casinos to complete a lot of paperwork. At most casinos, chips are not considered to be cash in those situations, which is another reason to keep some money in chips.

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Waiting List At most casinos, you will have to get on a list before you can get a seat in a game. Assuming you are comfortably bankrolled, you should get on as many lists as possible to maximize your hourly rate. Suppose $5/$10 is your regular game. If you show up to a casino and $2/$5, $5/$10 and $10/$20 are all running, if the $10/$20 is not too tough, you should get on all the lists. As soon as your name is called for a game, take a seat and play until you’re called for your regular $5/$10 game. I have occasionally waited three hours for a seat I was told would be opening soon in my desired game. Some casinos allow you to call on the phone to be put on the waiting list before you arrive. This will save you a lot of time. When waiting for a seat, try to observe the table where you will likely play. This will allow you to develop reads before you even sit down. If you can’t watch your table, it is beneficial to watch any other table. Act as if you are at the table and try putting everyone on ranges. While it is not nearly as engaging as actually playing, it is a good exercise in maintaining focus with nothing on the line. Games at some casinos start at a specific time. If you do not show up at that time, you are unlikely to get in the game of your choice. For example, at a local casino, a $10/$20 game starts at noon and there are usually enough players to start another table around 6:00 p.m. If you are not at the casino by noon, there is no point in showing up until about 6:00p.m. If you miss that game, you are out of luck. Ask the floor person when your game regularly starts, and be there at that time. If you are going to be late, ask the floor man to “lock up a seat” for you, which usually gives you 30 minutes to show up.

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Buy-in Size When you sit down at a table, you must first figure out how much money you want to play with. If you are the best player at the table, you may assume you should buyin for the maximum amount. This is a bad assumption. Your buy-in is determined by the other players’ stacks and their position relative to you. You usually want to buyin for more than the players on your right, and also more than the bad players. Since chips flow to the left, you want to have the guys on your right covered. Since chips come from the weak players, you also want to have them covered. Suppose you are playing $5/$10 with a $2,500 maximum buy-in. Everyone has $1,000 except the player in seat 6, who you know to be decent, but not world-class. He has $2,500. You are forced to sit in seat 4. Since the decent player has position on you, you do not want to buy in for $2,500 because you will be losing large pots to him and winning medium-sized pots from the players on your right. You should buy in for $1,000 and reload to cover the other players as they chip up. If you are in the same situation except seat 6 is a weak player, you should buy in for $2,500. Some players may think reloading to cover the weak players is a bit out of line but I assure you, it is not. Say you are in the situation above with the decent player on your left and you have $1,000. If a weak player doubles up to $2,000, you should reload to cover him. Do this in a manner that does not tell him that you think you have a large edge on him. Just get out your money, put it on the table and don’t make a big deal out of it.

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Posting Versus Waiting for the Blinds When you first sit in a game at most casinos, you will be required to either post the big blind out of turn, assuming you would not be the big blind on the next hand, or wait until you are the big blind before being dealt in. This is done so players do not sit down, play a few free hands without paying the blinds and leave. It is acceptable to post out of turn from the cutoff. If you are in an earlier position, you should usually wait until the blinds come around. Suppose you make $25 per hour at $2/$5 and you play 30 hands per hour. This means you make $0.83 per hand. When you post out of turn, you pay $5 to see some number of hands before you would normally pay the blinds. The $5 you post is not dead, but as you post in earlier position, it becomes gradually closer to dead. You make most of your profit on the button, so you may only win a tiny amount, such as $.20 per early-position hand. So, unless you can see a lot of hands, you should wait for the blinds. At casinos where you can “buy the button”, i.e., post both the small and big blinds where the normal small blind would be in exchange for getting the button the next hand, you should exercise this option. This is almost the same as post ing the blinds, except your small blind is dead. This will allow you to get in the game quickly and play your late-position hands with a minimal penalty.

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When to Take a Break When you play live poker, you must take breaks away from the table. Some players pride themselves in playing long sessions with no breaks, but this is foolish. Your mind needs time away from the game, out of the zone, to function optimally. Take a short break at least every two hours. The best way to take a brief break is to stand up, stretch and walk around a bit in the middle of a slow hand or after you have folded your hand from first position. It is important to not do things that might require a long break. Some players constantly drink coffee or smoke cigarettes, causing them to take frequent restroom or smoke breaks. Frequent breaks aren’t conducive to maximizing your hourly rate. Most players simply get up from the table and leave whenever they have to go to the restroom or take a phone call. While this strategy makes sense to many players, it is drastically –EV. You prepay for each hand you’re dealt when you pay the blinds. If you skip any of those hands, you are handing that equity to your opponents. The most cost-effective strategy is to wait until you are about to pay the blinds, then take a break, returning to the table an orbit later when it is your turn to pay the blinds again. This will give you around 10 minutes away from the table at no cost. However, even this strategy is far from optimal. The best strategy for taking breaks depends on your opponents. Hopefully by now, you are able to pinpoint the weakest players at your table. Once you know who they are, you should take a break when they take a break. You should still employ the basic strategy of playing all the hands you paid for. If you don’t want or need a break, you don’t have to take one, but be ready to play indefinitely whenever the weak player returns. You do not want to take time off when he is playing because that gives the other players at your table a free opportunity to relieve him of his money. Alternatively, if a good player has position on you, you want to be at the table when he is away. If your table is made up of one good player on your left and a bunch of random guys, when the good player takes a break, you have the table all to yourself with no one to your left to take your money. This is precisely when to not take a break. Feel free to take time off when the good player returns. Recognize times when taking a break may cause your table to dissolve. Most tight live players do not want to play short-handed, probably because they know they cannot wait around for premium hands but are too scared to do anything about it. Whenever a table goes from nine players down to six, it is likely to break because the tight players may leave. To help fight this problem, some casinos have implemented the “third man walking” rule, which basically says that if you are the third person to take a break away from a table and you are not back within an orbit, you may be picked up and replaced by someone on the waiting list. If your casino has that rule, be sure to return to the table quickly. If your table is profitable, you 252

should never take a break that may jeopardize your seat. Most casinos allow players to take a dinner break. The rules vary, so be sure you know how long you can be away. There is nothing worse than thinking you have an hour-long dinner break, only to find out it’s actually 45 minutes. If you do not come back on time, you may be picked up, forcing you to get on the waiting list again. As you can see, even something as simple as taking a break requires significant strategy. Think about other mundane situations in your everyday life that you can optimize with a little logical thinking.

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Know the Rules Every casino has unique rules which you should know. You would think all casinos would have the same rules, but they don’t. The most common rule discrepancy concerns who has to first show his hand at showdown when all players check on the river. In most of North America, the player in the earliest position has to show first. In most of the rest of the world, the last aggressor has to show first. Obviously you do not want to show your hand unless you have to. Despite this, I constantly see players show their hands out of turn because they do not know the rule. Some casinos have a betting line on the table that designates all chips thrown past it as a bet. The line is meant to prevent angle shooting, which occurs when a player puts some chips out then claims it is not a bet, and also to make it easier for the dealer to grab the chips. However, some casinos with betting lines on the tables don’t enforce the line, so it might as well not be on the table. Some casinos strictly enforce the betting-line rule. Imagine you want to bet $550 and you throw in two $25 chips and a $500 chip. If the two $25 chips cross the line and the $500 chip doesn’t, you’ve mistakenly bet $50. Some casinos have a “forward motion” rule that effectively says that any chips in your hand when you make a motion towards the center of the table are considered a bet. Again, some casinos enforce this rule and some do not. One rule that seems to finally be unified is the “oversize chip” rule. Basically, if you throw in one oversized chip when facing a bet, it is considered a call. For example, if I bet $200 and you put in a $1,000 chip, you’ve called. However, if you put in $1,025, you have raised to $1,025. This situation seems to trick up an amateur every so often. Another time they get confused is when someone raises to $150 at $25/$50 and the big blind puts in a $500 chip, leaving the other $50 in the pot. Some players assume the big blind raised, but since he only put in one chip, he actually called. If you want to make it $550, you have to take your $50 back then throw in $550. These are just a few of the rules that differ by location. Most casinos have a pamphlet outlining their rules. If you ever have a question about a rule, feel free to ask a floor person. Remember, if you fail to make a mistake that your opponents make, you profit. This concept does not apply only to what happens on the felt.

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Starting new Games Once you have developed reasonably strong post-flop skills, you should let the floor person know you are willing to help start new games. Whenever you put your name on the list, even if only a few people are on it, if you tell the floor man you will start short-handed, he will often try to start the game. While a new game will not always run, when it does, you will be playing with people who either play way too tight or over-adjust, playing way too many hands. You will likely discover that short-handed live no-limit hold’em is one of the most profitable forms of poker available, assuming you play with weak players. Be careful, though. You do not want to start a short-handed game with strong players unless you are confident that weak players will see the game running and quickly take the empty seats. Also, whenever a game is short-handed, ask for a reduced rake. If you can pay $2 rake in stead of $6, you will save a healthy amount of money, especially if you play a LAG style.

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Chopping When the action folds to the small blind, you will often see the players muck their hands, take the blinds back and then move on to the next hand. This is referred to as “chopping”. The purpose of chopping the blinds is to save time, pay less rake and avoid playing in a heads-up situation with mediocre cards. You should instantly realize that playing short-handed is one of the main spots where you make money. If you refuse to chop, you will find that most players employ a vastly suboptimal heads-up strategy. Hence, chopping is rarely a smart play for a good player unless the rake is overly high. When you agree to chop, you are agreeing to do so, regardless of your hand, at every opportunity. Some shady players breach this etiquette, but the vast majority are honorable. Also, if you agree to chop with the guy on your left, you are obligated to chop with the guy on your right, assuming he wants to chop. So, you must decide if you want to play against both or neither of the players adjacent to you. The ideal time to agree to chop is when the player to your right wants to play, meaning you will have position on him, and the player on your left wants to chop, allowing you to avoid playing out of position. If the player on your left wants to play, you pretty much have to play with the guy on your right to level the playing field. You cannot profitably play each orbit without being in position as often as you are not. Never chop with weak players unless the rake is absurdly high. I once played a $5/$10 game where the rake was $7 whenever a flop was dealt, $2 if there was no flop and $1 if the blinds chopped. This means that if my opponent limped and I checked, the house raked 33% of the pot. Since this was not beatable, it made sense to chop. However, if you know your opponent will view your refusal to chop as a challenge and will then play poorly, you should elect not to chop and proceed to accept the free money your opponent is about to send your way.

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Running it Twice Since the invention of Pot-Limit Omaha, a game whose variance is through the roof, some players have started running the remaining board multiple times when all the money goes in. This is done primarily to reduce variance. Notice if two players get all-in, each with 50% equity, one player will be up a buy-in and the other will be down a buy-in despite getting all-in with the same equity. On average, if the board is run twice, one player will win 25% of the time, the other player will win 25% of the time and they will split the pot 50% of the time. This is much more palatable to risk-averse players. If you are properly bankrolled, you should not mind the natural swings of the game, in which case you will see no problem running the board once because, win or lose, it will not alter your thought processes. Quite a few players go on tilt whenever they lose a big hand. If you get all-in with 50% equity and you know your opponent will go on tilt and rebuy if he loses, 50% of the time you will win the pot and get to play with a guy on tilt, and the other 50% of the time you will lose. Assuming you do not tilt, this is all upside for you. Your equity should have no bearing on how many times you run the board. You should run it once because you want to give your opponent the opportunity to tilt. You should also run it once against a good player who will quit if he loses his stack. Notice that you increase the percentage of weak players at the table by making good players leave. If you know a weak player will quit if he loses an allin, consider running it twice because you want him to remain at the table. Winning equity is all that matters. If you get all-in with 80% equity against a weak player who will quit if he loses and you run it twice, you lose no equity if he wins one of the boards. You’ve simply allowed the weak player an opportunity to continue giving away his equity by staying at the table. The main instances when you should run it twice are when the pot is a significant chunk of your bankroll and when your opponent will not go on tilt if he loses. If you are either playing too big or the stacks at your table happen to be super-deep, you might find yourself all-in for a lot of money. Say you know that losing this might put you on extreme tilt or force you to move down in stakes to continue playing. You should run it multiple times in this case. Do the same if your opponent is a worldclass professional who does not tilt. This is why you occasionally see good players run it twice with other good players but run it once with bad players. Some players feel this is a breach of etiquette, but I disagree. You gain some equity by putting a player in a situation in which he might go on tilt. There’s no need to run it twice if your opponent does not tilt. However, if a weak player insists you run it the same number of times with everyone, you should likely agree, because you always want to keep the weak player happy.

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Keep Your Cards Concealed This should come as utter common sense, but you do not want to show other players your cards while the hand is in progress. I have played with countless people who have had no clue how to look at their cards without showing them to half the players at the table. Since these players exist in the high-stakes games, I can only imagine what takes place at small stakes. I strongly suggest you sit down at home with a deck of cards and ask a friend if he can see your hand from any and all angles. If he can see them, experiment until you can look at your cards without your friend seeing them. Practice this until you never make a mistake. Do not get lazy at the poker table. Always use two hands to look at your cards. If anyone can see your hand, he can and will decimate you.

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Tipping I strongly suggest you handsomely tip every employee you come into contact with at the casino. Some players are adamantly against tipping because it cuts down on their bottom line, but if you take care of the casino staff, they will take care of you. If you tip the floor man, he will liberally lock up seats for you and will even call you on the phone to see if you want to play in a game that is about to start. He will also call if a particular weak player shows up. If you tip the dealers, they will make sure all rulings go your way, which is the correct way because you will hopefully not make mistakes at the table. If you tip the cashiers at the cage, they will make sure transactions go smoothly for you. If you tip the porters, they will make sure all trash around you is picked up in a timely manner. If you tip the waitresses, they will ensure you always have a full drink. If you tip the person in charge, he will usually be able to get you various comps. If you scratch their backs, they will scratch yours.

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Game Selection Game selection is perhaps the most important skill a poker player can have. If you are the ninth-best player in the world and you sit down in a game with the top eight players, you will lose. If you are the millionth best player in the world but the best in your game, you will win. While it really is as simple as that, you can employ numerous strategies to guarantee you game will be profitable every time you sit at the poker table.

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When to Arrive I mentioned earlier that you should show up when your game of choice starts each day, but you should actually show up when you expect to be the most profitable in your game. This means showing up when the average player is playing poorly, when a terrible player wants to gamble or when you expect to play particularly well. The average player’s skill level diminishes as day turns to night. For example, the players who typically start my local game around noon play reasonably well. This game is certainly not amazing. However, that same game becomes much better around midnight. People often go to the casino to gamble after they get off work. Someone with a day job will typically be worse than players who don’t have a job, because he will not put in enough time at the table to adequately develop his skills. Players may become liable to tilt as they take bad beats throughout the day. If a player has already put in an eight-hour session before you arrive, you will likely think more soundly than he does because your mind is fresh and his is battle-worn. Some players drink a significant amount of alcohol at night, making them very -EV. I actually know a few live cash-game players who wake up at around 8:00 p.m., eat “breakfast”, go to the gym and show up at the casino around midnight, ready to take the tilters’ money. While this sleep schedule takes significant dedication, it is probably your best play if you want to play cash games for a living and maximize your hourly rate. Make it a point to know when particularly terrible players show up to play. You can do this either by tipping the floor man to call you whenever you should show up, or developing a group of friends in the game who agree to call each other when the game gets amazing. This takes a certain amount of trust because if you call other good players when the game is good but they don’t return the favor, you will lose a lot of equity. You can also become friends with the weak players and have them call you whenever they want to play. If a bad player does not mind losing money to you because he enjoys playing you, he will often have no problem letting you know when he wants to play as long as you give him action. You can also pay attention to when bad players show up. A few years ago at my local casino, one extraordinarily weak player would show up to play every Thursday at 5:30 p.m. He would play four hours and quit, win or lose. I made sure to show up at 5:00 p.m. on Thursday to guarantee I had a seat in the game. Make it a point also to play when you expect to perform especially well. If you are fully rested and have a clear mind, get in there and take a shot. More importantly, do not play when you think you will play poorly. If you are tired, hung over, drunk or upset for any reason, you should not play. Even if the game is pretty good, don’t play if your judgment is clouded. Most players think they play reasonably well all the time. After years of deceiving myself, I can confidently say there are times when I am fairly prone to tilt. I know I should not play after I have 262

an argument with my girlfriend, when lots of difficult things are happening in business, when I am tired and when there are other things I would rather do than play poker. If you experiment and honestly assess yourself, you will be able to pinpoint when you should and shouldn’t play, based on your mindset.

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Choosing the Right Level When you show up to a casino, you will usually have your choice of various stakes and buy-in levels. It is important to be able to analyze your options and figure out where you will win the most money without straining your bankroll. Assuming you want to keep your risk of ruin low, which all professionals should, look for a game with low variance that offers you a high hourly rate. As you move up and face tougher competition, your hourly rate shrinks in terms of big blinds per hour but rises in terms of dollars per hour. Eventually these two numbers will converge such that it no longer makes sense to play higher stakes. Suppose you know you can win 10 big blinds per hour at $2/$5, 8 big blinds per hour at $5/$10 and 4.5 big blinds per hour at $10/$20. Notice at $2/$5 you make $50 per hour, at $5/$10 you make $80 per hour and at $10/$20 you make $90 per hour. Assuming you are properly bankrolled for each game, you should probably play $5/$10, assuming you are fairly risk-averse and do not mind giving up a little equity in exchange for fewer wild swings. The jump in hourly rate between $2/$5 and $5/$10 is too big to pass up. As your win rate diminishes, you will experience much larger swings that in turn increase the likelihood you go broke. The discrepancy between an 8-big blind and a 4.5-big blind per hour win rate is huge. The big winners at the biggest games against world-class competition may win only 2 big blinds per hour, making the game crazy. You do not actually make a set amount of money per hour at each buy-in level. Your win rate is based on your opponents. It is not uncommon to see ultra-high buyin games where only non-professionals are allowed to play. If you play fairly well and can find your way into one of those games, you stand to have a huge win rate. By the same note, if there is one $2/$5 game in your town and it is filled with decent players, you will not win much money, making smaller games a better option. You must evaluate each table you can potentially sit at and try to determine where your profit will come from. Bankroll considerations aside, if $1/$2 is filled with decent players but $2/$5 has a bunch of weak guys, you should play $2/$5. Alternatively, if $2/$5 is tough and $1/$2 is soft, you should play $1/$2. Some casinos have various buy-in restrictions that may affect your win rate. An excellent player generally wants to buy-in for enough money to cover the weak players. There is a $1/$2 game in California where the maximum buy-in is $40. With 20-big blind stacks, even a world-class player should not expect to win much money, especially after accounting for the rake. At that same casino there are two $5/$10 games, one with a $400 maximum buy-in, the other with a $1,500 maximum. Assuming players of equal skill levels in both games, you should play the $1,500 game. However, most weak players buy-in for small amounts, which may make the $400 game more profitable for you, despite the shorter stacks.

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Table Selection At most casinos, especially if you play $1/$2 or $2/$5, you can often choose from several tables. You generally want to play at the most noisy table in the room because those players are having fun and mixing it up. Shy away from tables where everyone is taking the game seriously. Of course, if you know a particularly weak player is at a specific table, you should play with him. Most casinos have a “must move table” at which all new players are seated. This table feeds players to a set of main games. This ensures that the players who have been playing the longest don’t risk having their game broken up when players leave. The main games are almost always full, whereas the “must move” game is occasionally short-handed. While you must play at the “must move” table for a while, once you graduate to one of the main games, you should immediately ask the floor man to let you know when a seat becomes available at one of the other main games, whether or not you currently want to change tables. Having the option to play with a different set of players is a complete free roll. If your current table is amazing, don’t change tables when the option becomes available. Be sure to remind the floor man to offer you seats at other tables if they become available. If your table is unpleasant, you should generally change tables. You do not want to be one of those guys who are happy playing at any table. Constantly assess your table and look to make beneficial changes whenever possible.

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Seat Selection When someone leaves a table, you have the option to take the departed player’s seat. You will usually be able to pinpoint the best seat at the table. Once you know where you want to sit, take that seat as soon as it becomes available. At most casinos, particularly at the small-stakes games at which players tend to get into frivolous arguments, there is a “seat change button” you can get from the dealer. If your casino uses these, ask the dealer for one as soon as you sit down. Similar to changing tables, the option to change seats is a complete free roll. If a newly opened seat is more desirable than your current seat, take it, and if it isn’t, let some one else take it. At other casinos, the seat-change list is determined by seniority at the table. If you have been at the table for three hours and I’ve been there for six hours, I have the option of taking an empty seat before you do. The players on either side of an open seat determine its desirability. You generally want the bad players near you and the good ones at the opposite end of the table. Assuming you follow my recommendations and raise a lot of pots when the action is folded to you, you want tight players on your left who will be unlikely to re-raise pre-flop or bluff you after the flop. If you play a tight strategy, opening only premium hands, you want wild players on your left who will give you unwarranted action. It is usually ideal to have position on the worst player at the table unless he plays poorly in position. Then, you don’t mind if he has position on you. You do not want to let good, aggressive players have position on you unless you can also get position on the weakest player. You especially do not want to be sandwiched between the good players, with the weak players at the opposite end of the table. Always analyze the changing table dynamics to figure out which seat is ideal. For example, if a guy has been playing well for the past six hours but suddenly goes on tilt due to a bad beat, you should swap seats to get position on him. If you initially think a player is bad but it turns out, after diligent observation, that he is actually good, change seats so he does not have position on you. Always be on the lookout for the best seat in the house and make it yours at the first opportunity. When changing seats, do not make it obvious to the other players why you are swapping. I usually say something about how I want to see a specific television that I cannot see from my current seat. Another good excuse is that your chair is unlucky. You can also say it is uncomfortable. The last thing you want to do is baldly tell someone that you think he is a bad player by loudly jockeying for seats with other players. If another good player is also trying to get the best seat, do your best to beat him to the punch. If you fail, let it go and don’t make a scene.

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The Rake If there were no rake, poker would be a zero-sum game, meaning all money taken to the table would be taken away from the table. Unfortunately, that is not how the game works, because casinos have bills to pay. Every hand, or every half-hour in some games, the dealer takes a predefined amount of money from the players, which is referred to as the rake. In small-stakes games, the dealer takes 10% from each pot, which is capped at some predetermined dollar amount. If you are playing $1/$2 and the maximum rake is $7 per hand, you will have a difficult time profiting in the game even as the best player at the table. If you play 30 hands per hour and the dealer rakes $90 per hour, the casino will rake most of the money from the table, assuming 100-big blind stacks, in 20 hours. Notice that if the stacks are short, the house will rake the players dry much faster because players constantly get all-in, causing the pots to reach the cap more often. However, if the rake is only $4 per hand, which is common in most Las Vegas poker rooms, you can beat almost any game if you play well. In some high-stakes private cash games, the rake is only 5%, but it is uncapped. It should be clear that at $25/$50, if the house is taking $25 per tiny pot and $1,000 per big pot, the game is definitively unbeatable. In high-stakes games, the dealer will usually collect “time” from each player every half-hour. The standard amount is between $6 and $12 per half-hour at most reputable card rooms. In the biggest games, there is sometimes a “collection pot” or “time pot”, which means the next player to win a pot over a predetermined amount has to pay the rake for the next half-hour for everyone at the table. You can opt out of this, paying your own rake every time, but few players do this. The purpose of a time pot is to speed up the game. If the current hand is a time pot, you should generally play tighter than normal, calling significantly less often, unless you know everyone else at your table will also tighten up. If everyone is nitting it up, not wanting to pay the rake, you can frequently steal and win a few blinds with little resistance. You must beat various other forms of rake if you want to thrive as a poker player. Any money you spend to play poker counts as rake. If you take a $30 taxi to the casino, that is travel rake. If you pay $25 for casino food, whereas you normally spend $10 on food, that is an extra $15 rake. Any tips you hand out are also a form of rake. Perhaps the most costly expense for players is lodging. Say you travel to a casino and spend $100 to stay for a night. If you expect to win $20 per hour, you have to play five hours a day to pay for the room. Strive to keep these additional rakes small. When available, get comped for as many things as possible. If it makes sense, bring your food from home and share rooms with your friends. There is nothing wrong with enjoying the finer things in life, of course. Just be sure your costs do not devour the equity you expect to make. 267

Be Friendly While this topic does not directly apply to game selection, it is important in maintaining the profitability of a game. One of the best ways to make it as a live cash-game player is to be asked to play with people who simply want to have fun. If you obviously take the game seriously, recreational players will feel uncomfortable playing with you and will not want to give you their money. If you can craft a world where the bad players both want to play with you and don’t mind losing to you, money will flow your way. You should not be opposed to chatting it up with recreational players, but do not talk about poker strategy at the table. If you play with someone on a regular basis, you do not want to educate him and let him know how you think. Nevertheless, if a particularly weak player wants to talk strategy and I see no nice way to avoid the subject, I will give him a few pointers. As long as the weak player did not make a horrible play, let him know you think what he did was fine. If he made a terrible play, tell him so in a nice way. There is a lot of value in simply being kind to other human beings. Another way you can keep the game friendly is to not act as if you are taking the game too seriously. There are some games where sunglasses are acceptable and others where they are not. If you sit down to a table and everyone is having a good time, with no one wearing sunglasses, you should probably not wear them in order to maintain a jovial atmosphere. If everyone is being quiet or one person is wearing sunglasses, feel free to wear yours. Compared to tournaments, you will frequently find cash games have a much less serious vibe, which should lead you to consider both the benefits and consequences of appearing to take the game seriously. The same goes for headphones. If everyone is talking and interacting, you should not wear them. If most people, especially the weak players, are listening to their own music, feel free to listen to yours. If everyone orders a beer from the cocktail waitress, you should consider ordering one, too. But don’t drink too much of it. The last thing you want to do is induce your normally weak opponents to start thinking about how to play good poker.

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Bankroll Management To play poker without going broke, you must have enough money to handle the standard, turbulent swings of the game. Most players incorrectly assume that if they have enough money to reload a few times, they have enough money to play. Other players are so deathly afraid of going broke that they only play in games where the downswings will be unnoticeable, which is also suboptimal. If you can realistically assess your win rate in a game, you will be able to calculate how many buy-ins you need to make it nearly impossible to go broke. The goal of this section is to provide the information necessary for professional poker players to build their bankrolls while minimizing their risk of going broke. It should be made clear that your bankroll is the money you have set aside for poker. This money is not spent on bills, hobbies, vacations or anything else. Most amateur players incorrectly assume they should spend whatever they win at poker on things they normally would not buy. This strategy does not work out for them in the long run. Whatever you win from poker, at least until you start winning enough to grow your bankroll at a reasonable rate, should be added to your bankroll and saved for a later date. Your goal should to be to grow your bankroll so you can play bigger games and make more money per hour in the future. If you constantly take money out of your bankroll, it will not grow, forcing you to play in the same game with the same win rate forever. Your win rate and playing style will determine how large of a bankroll you need to avoid going broke. If you have a high win rate of 20 big blinds per 100 hands and you play a low-variance strategy, you can keep a small bankroll of around 2,500 big blinds, or 25 buy-ins in 100-big blind games. If you have a small win rate of 3 big blinds per 100 hands and you play a high-variance style, you should keep around 10,000 big blinds. Your variance is much more relevant if you have a low win rate because if you have a high win rate, even if you have large swings, they will usually be in the upward direction. If you are a break-even or losing player, no matter how you manage your bankroll, you will go broke eventually. Bankrolls are generally defined in terms of buy-ins, but that does not work when you play games with varying buy-ins. For example, you will swing wildly, at least in terms of buy-ins, in games where the maximum buy-in is 20 big blinds, but very little in games where you can buy-in for 250 big blinds. If you think of your bankroll in terms of big blinds, this will solve the problem. Keep diligent records of your play every time you sit down at the table. It is not good enough to keep results occasionally. When you track your results, you must be brutally honest with yourself. If you lie to yourself, you will likely go broke. You can download countless programs to your phone that will allow you to effortlessly keep track of your results. You need to keep track of not only how much you win or lose, but how long you play and how often you reload. This will help you predict 270

the size of the swings you will typically encounter. Once you figure out your hourly rate, you can determine how many big blinds you make on average per 100 hands, or roughly three hours of play. Note that to confidently predict your hourly rate requires a huge sample size, probably 1,000 hours of play or more, which is around a year’s worth of play at 20 hours per week. Below is a list outlining minimum bankroll requirements, assuming you have the standard deviation of a typical loose, aggressive player in live, nine-handed, nolimit hold’em cash games. This assumes you want less than a 3% chance of going broke. If you win at 3 big blinds per 100 hands, you need 10,000 big blinds. If you win at 5 big blinds per 100 hands, you need 8,000 big blinds. If you win at 7 big blinds per 100 hands, you need 6,000 big blinds. If you win at 10 big blinds per 100 hands, you need 4,000 big blinds. If you win at 13 big blinds per 100 hands, you need 3,500 big blinds. If you win at 16 big blinds per 100 hands, you need 3,000 big blinds. If you win at 20 big blinds per 100 hands, you need 2,500 big blinds. If you win at 25 big blinds per 100 hands, you need 2,000 big blinds. Most professionals want to have less than a 1% chance of going broke, so they typically keep a much larger bankroll than is thought to be required. You also must account for the fact that you may overestimate your win rate. For example, if you think you win at 16 big blinds per 100 hands but you actually win at only 5 big blinds per 100 hands, you will likely go broke due to playing with too small a bankroll. I strongly suggest that you double or even triple the requirements from the list above, especially if you play for a living. You can keep a smaller bankroll than required if you are a profitable recreational player and you do not mind going broke because you can easily reload your bankroll. Be aware that your swings constitute a larger percentage of your bankroll and you may feel immense pressure when you get short on money. I suggest all poker players, especially if they aspire to becoming professionals, manage their bankrolls as if they are professionals. This will form a solid foundation for when you actually go pro. Remember to play in games you can beat and that your win rate is based on your opponents, not the size of the blinds. If you are an excellent player participating in tough games, you should not expect to win too much. If you are a mediocre player in super soft games, you will win a lot. Be smart and honest with yourself, constantly assessing your skill level compared to that of your opponents.

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How Much to Take to the Table After you have determined how much money to keep in your bankroll, you have to figure out how much money to take with you to the casino. There is no magic system that will guarantee you make money every time you sit down at the table in the short run. If you are prone to tilt whenever you lose a big hand, perhaps you should take only one or two buy-ins. If you are an emotionless machine, you should take a large amount because you will always play profitable poker, despite the swings. When I first started playing live cash games, I would become an emotional train wreck whenever I lost two buy-ins. I quickly learned that I played in a very –EV manner when I was stuck even a small amount. Because of this, while I was still an immature kid, I took only two buy-ins with me to the casino. If you have a box at your local casino and you are a tilter, you should not keep too much money in your box. If you travel to play poker and you are prone to tilt, you should probably allocate one or two buy-ins per day and firmly stick to that rule. If you are going to play for a week, take 10 buy-ins, but if you find yourself immediately stuck two buy-ins on the first day, you must be disciplined and take a break. Eventually I grew up, learned math and accepted the undeniable truth that there are crazy, yet normal swings in poker. I now take a decent amount of money with me when I play cash games. When traveling, I usually take enough to comfortably play the largest game I expect to encounter. At my local casino, I keep a box with enough money to play the sporadic huge games that pop up, even though I don’t normally need that much money. I am disciplined enough to recognize when I am getting slightly steamed, and I have learned how to regain my composure. I also know I am not going to go on massive tilt and lose everything in my box. If you are the least bit prone to tilt, be sure to take the steps necessary to protect your bankroll. Most players do not play well when running poorly. I still implement a four-buy-in stop loss, which means I quit whenever I am down four buy-ins. Even though I normally feel as if I am thinking rationally, I look to protect myself if that’s actually not the case. While there are no set rules for how much money to take to the table, if you are honest with yourself, you can use a little common sense and develop a strategy that works for you.

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When to Leave the Table Cash games are tough to master because you only get to keep what you take away from the table. If you start off winning most sessions but you play until you lose it all, you will lose in the long run. If you frequently lock up small wins but occasionally lose a huge amount, you will also lose. While I have no set guideline for when to leave the table, such as “When I am up two buy-ins, I quit”, I do have a checklist to help me make an informed decision. If I am tired or I lack focus for any reason, I tend to quit. Actually, if I am tired or I know I will lack focus because I have other things on my mind, I will not sit down at the table in the first place. You will eventually tire or lose focus in every session you play. When this happens, I usually give myself around 15 minutes to wake up or regain focus. If I don’t, I quit. I also quit whenever the game gets bad, usually when weak players leave and are replaced with good players. I will occasionally quit if my seat gets bad and I don’t foresee a profitable seat-change opportunity in my future. Basically, if I do not think the game will be reasonably profitable, I quit. As stated earlier, I also quit whenever I am down four buy-ins, with no questions asked. The toughest time to quit is when you are up a decent amount, the table is good and nothing is going wrong. My advice, assuming you are thinking soundly and playing your best, is to continue playing until you get tired or lose focus. I have often seen good players leave because they are up a large amount. They often have an amazing table image and are playing against weak players. They justify quitting by saying, “I am up enough to meet my quota for the week, so I should quit.” If you expect to make 10 buy-ins per month and you are up five in one day, you should never quit if your game is good. In fact, if you are up 20 buy-ins in a day, you should still keep playing. The only way you show huge profits is to play when the games are amazing. Realize that you will not make your expected profit of 10 buyins each and every month. You have to stockpile your wins when you can to make up for the bad runs that are guaranteed to be in your future.

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Moving Up If you are a profitable player, eventually you will grow your bankroll to the point that you should try to play bigger games. Suppose you know you win at 10 big blinds per 100 hands and you have 7,000 big blinds in your bankroll. If you are playing $2/$5, this means you have $35,000 dedicated to poker. While this is certainly not enough money to play $5/$10, you should probably take a shot when that game looks soft. If you win, you will quickly become adequately bankrolled for that game and can start playing it regularly. If you lose, you can go back to $2/$5 with a $32,000 bankroll. If you want to be a bit more cautious, you can wait until you have $40,000 or so in your bankroll. Through this experimentation, you will often find out if you have what it takes to beat the bigger games. If you are not good enough to win, you can move back to your regular game and work on improving your abilities. Assume you normally play $2/$5, have a $30,000 bankroll and win at 15 big blinds per 100 hands. Assuming your game is always soft and you are confident in your win rate, if an abnormally large game pops up with mostly weak players, consider taking a shot. Suppose three drunken guys stumble into your casino at midnight and you are happily grinding away at $2/$5. They decide to play $10/$20 with a $2,000 buy-in. You should likely take a shot against these players and be willing to lose up to $4,000, assuming you are going to play well and not go on tilt. If you run well, you may drastically increase your bankroll and if you lose, you know you can win the $4,000 back over time at $2/$5 with relatively little risk. While shot-taking is a gamble that gives you the opportunity to quickly grow your bankroll, it can also bust you if you are not careful. Some players refuse to go back to their normal game after playing for higher stakes. They view their normal game as insignificant, craving another shot to make a big run. Others run well at the bigger game for a while then go on a downswing. Once the larger game becomes their regular game, they refuse to move down, eventually going broke. If you are going to take shots, you must know your tendencies and be willing to move back down at the first sign of trouble. I have been fairly lucky with my shot-taking, rarely getting demolished. This is mainly because I make sure a giant game is amazing before putting a significant amount of my bankroll at risk. A little while back I was happily grinding my standard $10/$20 game when three businessmen stumbled in and wanted to play $100/$200 with a $50 ante. The lineup consisted of the three businessmen and two world-class professionals. I got $20,000 from my box and started playing. I was willing to lose $40,000 in the game. I ran hot, doubling up with Q-Q against 3-3 pre-flop, then with A-K against K-10 on a K-8-6-3 board. I ended up winning $80,000 in three hours before the game broke.

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Moving Down When an inevitable downswing occurs, you must be willing to move down and grind smaller games, especially if you are no longer adequately bankrolled for your current game. Quite a few “professionals” have gone broke because they are too prideful to move down and put in time grinding in the smaller games. They feel as if moving down means they have failed, but it actually means they have the humility necessary to succeed. If you know you have to keep 5,000 big blinds to be adequately bankrolled for your game, I suggest you move down when you have around 3,500 big blinds. This will position you to be way over-bankrolled for the smaller game, allowing you to play with little financial pressure. Once you have regained your bankroll and confidence, you can move back up and continue your winning ways. There is also a bit of value in moving down when things are going poorly, even if you are properly bankrolled for your current game. Taking a step down and playing against weaker competition will give you a better chance of making accurate reads and winning pots. You will find it is much easier when you are playing against inferior players with little financial pressure.

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Backing If you find yourself low on money, you probably did not follow my recommendations. If you are on a “sick downswing”, losing around 10,000 big blinds, you probably are not a winning player. That being said, winning poker players occasionally find themselves in situations where they need to get backing. Backing is the agreement of someone to provide your buy-ins in exchange for some of your profit. There are two main types of deals: one-time deals and makeup deals. A one-time deal is set up such that the person getting staked plays a session with someone else’s money in exchange for a small piece, usually 15%, of whatever he wins in that session. This type of deal is good for games that randomly pop up that are too large for you to normally play. A makeup deal is a long-term deal where the person being backed is allowed to cash out some piece, usually 50%, of whatever amount he is up. If he happens to get down, he must win back all of his losses before he can cash out anything. This type of deal is good if you regularly play a game and can continue to grind it if you happen to get down. With makeup deals, you are usually not allowed to quit when you are down, also called “being in makeup”, unless there is some sort of time frame for the deal. Assuming you are a solid, winning professional poker player, if you have $100,000 to your name and something unexpectedly happens that consumes $80,000 of your bankroll, you should probably get staked, at least until you have padded your bankroll a bit. You will win about half as much as normal, as you have to give half of your profits to your backer, but you will be able to play without financial pressure and can continue playing your regular game. If you simply hate losing and can’t figure out how to rationalize to yourself that you are guaranteed to have losing sessions, you should also consider getting backed. You will only win half as much money in the long run, but you will at least be able to sleep at night. If you have massive life leaks, such as being addicted to casino games or drugs, you should also get backed because you will find all your poker profits being devoured by your bad habits. Obviously, a better strategy it to simply not have massive life leaks. While numerous people back live cash-game players, I have never ventured into this arena simply because I do not think it is wise to completely trust struggling poker players to honestly report their winnings. I am sure it would be quite easy for the person being backed to pocket five big blinds every session without the backer’s knowledge. If you decide to back players at live cash games, I suggest you keep a watchful eye over your investments. Make sure your horse is not getting drunk at night, doing drugs or playing in games he cannot beat. If you think you made a bad investment, be quick to pull the plug. I have heard horror stories from backers who put mediocre players in tough games only to watch them get demolished and stuck 10,000 big blinds in makeup. Once a horse gets that far in the hole, he probably isn’t thinking properly and may try to gamble hard to try to get 276

even. This is a situation you should actively try to avoid.

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Where to Keep Your Bankroll When you first start keeping a bankroll, there is nothing wrong with keeping it under your mattress, but your bed will eventually become lopsided – at least it will if you’re a winner. While it is important to keep as much money as you will reasonably need in the short run in the form of cash or casino chips, you should put the rest of your money someplace where it can work for you. Invest your excess bankroll somewhere that is profitable and liquid. If you need 10,000 big blinds to feel comfortable playing your normal game, you only realistically need 2,000 of them in cash. Put the other 8,000 big blinds away for a rainy day. The stock market is reasonably liquid, although it has fairly large swings. If you don’t mind the day-to-day variance and you think the market will go up, which may or may not be true, it may be a decent place to park your money. You likely have no good reason to think the market will go up or down in the short run, as you don’t know nearly enough about it to make that prediction. If you did, you probably would not be playing poker. You can also keep your money in a high-interest bank account, although they are currently difficult to find. Whatever you do, don’t keep all your money in cash at your house. Unless your bankroll is huge, don’t invest too much of your money in vehicles that are not liquid. I made the mistake early in my career of buying a few houses with my bankroll. You cannot get your money out of a real estate investment whenever you need it. If you need some money, you have to sell a house, which is certainly not a trivial task. Other items, such as gold, silver and diamonds, have to be dragged somewhere and sold, which usually is not a quick process, although it can be if you know the right people. Do not put your money in things that can only be sold for less than the purchase price. Cars, boats, jewelry and home improvements fall squarely in this category. You do not want to buy a new car for $60,000, knowing it will only be worth $40,000 in a few years. If you have $1 million in your bankroll, you really do not want to buy a $600,000 house and spend $75,000 renovating it. Not only do you have to sell the house to get your money back, but you will likely see a large negative return on the renovations.

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The Real World You must understand bankroll theory, but you also must know how to implement it in the real world. First off, if you are going to be a professional poker player, you have to keep more money on hand than your bankroll. You have to keep a nest egg for living expenses and unforeseen circumstances. You have to constantly manage how much of your money is in each investment vehicle. While some professionals simply throw all their money in their bank account and forget about it, being organized will help you better prepare for the future. Before you start withdrawing from your bankroll, you have to determine when moving up and growing your bankroll is no longer a major priority. If your goal is to make as much money as possible, which often means playing the biggest game in your area, you should not take money out of your bankroll until you are comfortably bankrolled for that game, assuming you can beat it. Suppose two identical players of equal skill currently play $2/$5. They both want to play $5/$10. Both players currently have $25,000 to their name and need to have $50,000 before moving up to $5/$10. They both play 40 hours per week and make 7 big blinds per hour, regardless of the game’s stakes. One player withdraws $3,000 for expenses each month, living the high life, and the other withdraws $1,000, eating ramen noodles in a tiny apartment. It will take the player who is living like a rock star 12 months to make it to $5/$10 with a $50,000 bankroll. The player who is living on the cheap will end up with $117,000 by the end of that same year. Withdrawing from your bankroll is so detrimental to your long-term profitability because it keeps you from making twice as much for some amount of time in the future, once you move up to the larger game. The player with $1,000 in expenses moved up twice as fast at the guy spending $3,000 per month, allowing him to make $70 per hour instead of $35 per hour for six months. This advantage will continue to compound over time, allowing the player with few expenses to move up much faster, eventually giving him access to much more money. If you are willing to sacrifice now, you can reap the rewards later. Once you are bankrolled for the biggest game you want to play, or moving up is no longer a priority, usually because you are making a comfortable living at your current game, start taking your profits and investing or saving them for the future. I strongly suggest you keep at least a year’s worth of living expenses set aside from your bankroll. Then you won’t have to worry about having to win money. I know a few poker players who live month-to-month, spending everything they make. This does not appear to be an enviable situation. Every pot they play is of the utmost importance because the outcome may make a huge difference in their livelihood. When I show up to the table, I do not really care what happens because I know, regardless of the outcome, nothing will change in my life. Of course, I could go on a nasty downswing and have to move down, but I am fine with that because I realize it is part of the game. 279

I have set myself up in life such that my poker winnings are no longer of the utmost importance. If you can pay all your bills every month through non-poker investments, you will not have to actually win at poker, allowing you to focus on playing to the best of your ability with little financial stress. Those houses I bought early in my career, which initially put a huge strain on my bankroll, now allow me a lot of freedom. If you are just starting out in the poker world, you must realize that the fastest path to success involves a lot of hardships. If you forego spending your profits, storing them in your bankroll instead, you will move up much faster than your peers. Building an enormous bankroll also has the added benefit of making it nearly impossible for you to go broke. If you are smart and plan ahead, you will have a long, fruitful career as a poker player. If you spend frivolously and think the money will constantly flow in your direction, you will probably end up broke.

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Focus To generate the most accurate reads and properly narrow your opponents’ ranges, you must constantly focus at the poker table. While most players think they focus reasonably well, in reality, they have a lot of room to improve. I will outline the most common mistakes I see players make at the table that eradicate their focus, and list some tips to help keep your mind on the game.

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Traps The most common mistake committed by poker players, particularly those who crave action, is to play other gambling games while at the table. The main focussucking activity is sports betting. It is not uncommon to see someone have significantly more action on the outcome of a sporting event than they do at the poker table. On any given day at a $2/$5 game, it is standard for one or two players to win or lose $1,000 based on the outcome of a sports game. Clearly, if you have wagered that much money – or for me, any money – on the outcome of an event, you will pay attention to that event. If you are paying attention to sports, you cannot focus on poker. I used to bet on sports whenever I went to the casino, probably because I craved action. As I matured, I came to realize the pointlessness of sports betting. Since I quit, my focus at the table has greatly improved. With the invention of smart phones and tablets, numerous players have started playing various forms of Chinese poker at the table when not involved in a hand. If you are not familiar with Chinese poker and its current main variant, Open Face Chinese poker, you can look them up online. Basically, they are repetition games in which you develop a strategy and stick with it, making miniscule adjustments based on your opponents. These games differ from regular poker in that the information you have is nearly complete. Unless your opponents are particularly bad, there is very little edge to be had. These games require some focus, distracting you from the actual poker game. As with sports betting, most players play Chinese poker for relatively large stakes, also diverting their attention from live poker. Unlike sports betting, Chinese poker is a game that practically never ends. This drives players to stay up all night, perpetually promising to play just one more hand, forcing them to either take the next day off or play in a stupor. I have played more than my fair share of Chinese poker in the past and I can tell you that quitting it was one of the best, most focus-enhancing decisions I have ever made. Avoid the degenerate gambling games players participate in while at the table. The most common is to bet on the random outcome of the flop with another player at the table. Players usually bet on whether the flop will be mostly red or black, or if a particular card will show up on the board, such as a 2, 3 or 4. There are too many variations of this game to cover them all. The players are essentially flipping coins. I have heard these players say that this helps keep their focus on poker, but it actually helps them focus on which specific cards come on the board. I think these games typically serve as a distraction from sports and television, driving the players’ attention back to the poker table. But they are not focusing on their opponents. It makes no difference which cards arrive on the board if you are not paying attention to your opponents’ actions. You should also not watch television or read at the table. While these activities tend to devour less attention than gambling games due to the lack of significant action, they still require attention. I try to select a seat at the table that faces away 283

from the televisions, which is the opposite strategy of most players. I know from years of experience that it is nearly impossible for me to focus if I have a sporting event on directly in front of my face. Don’t resign yourself to sitting where the floor man puts you. If you know you can’t focus with a television in front of you, make it a point to relocate as soon as possible. Listening to music is a fairly controversial activity that both helps and harms players’ ability to focus. On one hand, if you listen to music, you can play slightly longer sessions because your mind is not constantly focused on poker. The music provides a mental vacation when you are not in a pot. On the other hand, if you are zoned out, listening to your music, you are not focusing on the immediate action, causing you to miss relevant information. I tend to only listen to music when there is an annoying player at the table or if I am feeling tilty. I know for a fact that an annoying player distracts me much more than loud music. When I am getting a little steamed, I also know that taking a 30-minute mental break is beneficial for my game, helping me to relax and allowing me to play my normal game. Avoid audio books and podcasts at the poker table. These audio files demand significantly more attention than music because they require active listening. You can easily ignore music but if you enjoy your audio book or podcast, you do not want to ignore it. If your attention shifts to poker while listening, you are forced to spend time finding the point where your attention wandered. Social media constitute a huge leak for some poker players. Similar to Chinese poker, social media comprise an endless barrage of information. Some players mindlessly spend all day refreshing various programs on their phones. Obviously, if your head is buried in your phone, you will have a tough time paying attention to poker. If you must maintain constant contact with your friends, allow yourself to fiddle with your phone whenever you step away from the table for a restroom break. If that doesn’t provide enough action, play with your phone for three minutes whenever there is a dealer change, usually every 30 minutes. During the other 27 minutes, have it in your pocket and do not touch it. If you simply can’t withstand the urge, leave your phone at home when you go to the casino. I promise that you will survive, assuming you can withstand the initial withdrawal symptoms. Some players find they occasionally zone out even when trying to focus on the action. I still struggle with this problem. I will be watching a hand, then in the middle of it, realize I have no clue what the action was on the previous betting round. I think this is the hardest problem to fix because it’s not like a specific distraction at which you can simply stop participating. This problem is purely the inability to focus. Whenever I find myself zoning out, I make a pact with myself to regain my focus. I usually stretch a bit, order a coffee or tea, and make it a point to sit up straight in my chair. I resolve to pay attention to the next hand from start to finish. At the completion of that hand, I do it again. While it is easy to fall out of focus, if you are self-aware, you can quickly recognize and correct the problem. 284

Tips The most useful tip I was ever given came from a long-time live professional who has had about as much success as you can possibly have in both cash games and tournaments. He taught me to take one hand off per orbit and do whatever I want during that hand. First and second positions provide prime opportunities to relax because you typically play few hands from those spots. After folding, you can stand up, stretch, walk around, play on your phone, talk to your friends or do anything else you want. Obviously, you should still pay a little attention to the table if significant action takes place, but don’t focus too hard. You only need to pay attention to how often the players in late position are raising and continuationbetting, because they will be the players who are attacking your blinds in the near future. These short breaks will greatly help you focus on the other hands. Use them as small rewards for actively paying attention to the other hands. If you have difficulty focusing on each individual hand, set up a system of actions that force you to pay attention to each betting round. For example, you could wear a rubber band on your wrist and snap it whenever you lose focus. Since most players lose focus once the flop comes when they are not involved in a pot, snap the band then, reminding you to pay attention. Snap it as often as necessary. Don’t go crazy with the snapping because it may lose its effectiveness. You can also move your chip stack around in a way that reminds you to pay attention. Take a chip from the top of one stack and place it on the top of another stack at the start of each hand. This could cause betting mistakes, so be sure you are paying attention. This type of action will reset your mind and remind you to focus. Another way to sharpen your focus is to take somewhat frequent breaks. It is not uncommon to see a player sit in a game and not move for hours on end. This is usually a leak because it is simply not possible to intensely focus on something for that long. These players usually develop an autopilot strategy from which they never deviate. I usually take a five-minute break every hour or so. I get up, go to the restroom, check my phone and stretch a bit. On my break, I completely forget about poker. I do not worry about hands I may have misplayed. I use this time as a short mental break from the game, allowing me to return with a refreshed mind. Only play poker when you are well rested. If you are feeling lethargic, get some sleep and return when you are ready to play your best. Some players are known for playing insanely long sessions. These players typically do not focus at all. They stick to a default strategy that they think will win in the long run with few reads on their opponents. It should be clear that if you win 8 big blinds per hour when well rested and 3 big blinds per hour when tired, even if you typically play twice as long while tired, you will win less money than when rested. You will also have less time in the day to enjoy life. Never sit down to any gambling game when drunk or high. If you are not sober, 285

you should avoid all gambling games like the plague. Even the best professional has difficulty playing well when his mind is not thinking anywhere near its full capacity. I also strongly suggest you do not have even one alcoholic drink while at the table. I am amazed at how my thought process changes with a sip of alcohol. If you happen to be on prescription drugs that are known to alter your state of mind, I suggest you either try playing poker without them or keep detailed results to see if they change your win rate. If putting something in your mouth destroys your profitability, you should probably not put it in your mouth when you plan to play. You must be in good health if you want to think as clearly as possible for as long as you can. When I started playing poker, I gained 50 pounds and didn’t think much of it because most of my friends were overweight. When I realized how fat I was, I decided to get in shape, both by eating right and working out. I lost the weight a few years ago and I can confidently say I can now play long sessions with a clear mind and I generally think more clearly, both at and away from the table. You lose weight either by consuming fewer calories or burning more calories. If you alter your routine such that you either eat 500 fewer calories per day or burn 500 more calories per day, which can be done by running four miles, the result will be roughly the same. I doubt many of you want to run four miles per day. The easiest way to lose weight is to alter your eating habits because most people, especially Americans, consume way more than necessary. It is fairly easy to change your daily intake from 2,500 calories to 2,000 calories. All it requires is a little self-control. If you stop eating fried foods, grains, dairy products, potatoes and sugars, you will quickly slim down. This means your diet will consist of no fast foods, no soda, no fruit juice, no desserts, no candy, no cheese, no rice and no pasta. This is a lifestyle change, not a fad diet. If you eat well for a while then go back to eating crap, you will stay overweight. I typically have scrambled eggs and vegetables for breakfast, a vegetable smoothie for lunch and some kind of grilled meat with vegetables for dinner. I drink only water, tea (mostly white and green) and a little coffee. I will splurge occasionally on a piece of fruit, which contains a lot of sugar, or a glass of wine. I do virtually no grazing throughout the day. Some people claim eating small meals throughout the day is ideal, but this is not practical for poker players, at least in my experience. While I am well aware that most casinos offer few healthy options, I have yet to find a casino that doesn’t have something edible that fits the above guidelines. I pretty much hate salads, but most casinos stock a grilled chicken salad with balsamic dressing. You can also order a sandwich and muck the bread. When I play live poker, I usually carry a bottle filled with a super healthy vegetable powder that I drink whenever I get hungry, assuming I do not want to take a long break to get food. No one said you cannot bring your own food to the game. Going to the gym for the first time was daunting for me. I was a weak, 286

overweight kid with no clue where to start. I hired a trainer and got to work. My typical workout was a 15-minute run on the treadmill followed by 45 minutes of working out, either on machines, lifting free weights or doing bodyweight exercises. When I first started, I could not run a mile. I remember running for around eight minutes and being totally out of breath. I then decided it would be cool to run a marathon at some point. After a few years of training, I ran more than a marathon, 28 miles, with few problems. I am now working on running faster instead of farther. My current goal is to run a five-minute mile. While it seems impossible, I know that with time and effort, I can do it. I am also much stronger now than when I first started lifting, although I still have room to improve. I recently switched most of my workouts to bodyweight exercises because they are easy to do in a hotel room with no equipment. Push-ups, Pull-ups, handstands, backbends, squats and various other bodyweight exercises will quickly make you quite strong. Most poker players claim traveling makes it difficult to work out, but having no equipment is not a legitimate excuse. As with eating right, if you have the discipline and desire to improve, amazing things will come in time. I recently started writing down all significant hands that I and other players participate in as soon as the hand is complete. This helps me remember and recall hands. It is quite useful if you can figure out what your opponents think about your game. If you remember someone saw you value-bet with the nuts in a particular way in the past, you can play your bluffs in a similar manner against that player in the future because he will often incorrectly assume you have the nuts. Ac tively taking notes keeps my focus on my opponents’ tendencies. If your goal is to record all the significant hands, following the action becomes mandatory. You can also use your notes away from the table to pinpoint your leaks and discuss unique situations with your poker friends, allowing you to further progress as a player. I strongly suggest you actively put players on ranges whenever you are at the table, even when you are not involved in a hand. Play a game with yourself in which you compare the range you assign your opponent to his hole cards whenever they are shown. If you constantly assess ranges, this exercise will eventually become second nature, keeping your focus where it matters. If you become adept at putting players on ranges and can figure out which adjustments to make, your win rate will drastically increase.

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Tells A tell is a subtle, yet detectable change in a person’s behavior or demeanor that conveys information about how he views the strength of his hand. Tells vary in reliability and come in many forms. While most tells should only nudge your decision one way or the other, sometimes a tell is so powerful as to drastically alter the way you play your hand. For example, if you know your opponent raises to 3 big blinds with every hand besides J-J, which he consistently raises to 5 big blinds, then you know his exact hand whenever he raises to 5 big blinds, allowing you to play perfectly. The first step in accurately identifying and assessing a tell is to figure out your opponent’s baseline behavior, which is how he looks and acts most of the time. As soon as you get to the table, you should immediately note how each opponent appears both when playing and not playing a hand, especially in low-pressure situations. Any significant change in your opponent’s behavior when he is under pressure is likely a tell. It is important to note that tells do not actually indicate whether your opponent has a strong hand. Especially in small-stakes games, it is not uncommon to see a TP show tells indicating weakness with a hand such as 4-4 on an A-K-4 board. This player is so tight and passive that he is legitimately worried that he might lose his entire stack against A-A and K-K, or that he will be outdrawn by A-K. This player has a hand he should happily stack off with, but he appears extremely weak. As you play against stronger competition, you will notice some players run bluffs with marginal made hands that have very little showdown value, such as 6-5 on a 10-98-6-4 board. You may correctly assume a player is bluffing but lose when you call and he shows you a 6, beating your A-high. While good players usually understand where they are at in a hand, it is sometimes difficult to assess a weak player’s tells because he may not understand relative hand values. Bad LAGs in small-stakes games may check-raise the flop with top pair, bad kicker, bet the turn and go all-in on the river. These players will often show tells of extreme strength because they think they have a premium hand, when they’re actually running the equivalent of a terrible bluff. It is a huge blunder to fold a hand such as top pair, top kicker to these players because they frequently overplay their marginal made hands. Pay attention to a player’s betting tendencies as well as his tells to figure out how a specific tell alters his range. You should see a tell demonstrated a few times before assuming it is reliable. If you assume players shake a lot when value-betting and you noticed a specific player shaking the last time he made a big bet, it would be an error to assume he has a strong hand whenever he shakes. Notice you do not know if this specific player shakes when he value-bets. In fact, this player may shake whenever he makes any sizable bet, whether for value or as a bluff. You must first figure out his 288

baseline behavior and then see him show down a few value hands and no bluffs while shaking before assuming he shakes when he value-bets. Beginning players may commit the error of assuming a particular action is either weak or strong, and that all players show the same tendency. Each player is different and must be analyzed accordingly. If you do not know what a specific action indicates, it is usually best not to rely on it when making decisions. That said, some tells almost universally indicate either a perceived weak or strong holding. I am going to outline a few of the tells I have found to be most reliable, but before you make a huge call or a tight fold based on a tell, please make sure you know if the tell is reliable. Small-stakes players tend to either be totally unconcerned with giving and receiving tells, or overly concerned, often Hollywooding or trying to give off fake tells in a blatantly obvious manner. If someone isn’t concerned with his poker face, you should take his tells for what they likely mean. This player is not getting fancy. Against someone who tends to act strong when weak and weak when strong, you should usually assume he is doing this purposely in an attempt to trick you. Tells from players who consistently act the opposite are usually very reliable because they are going out of their way to demonstrate them. These players are turning their hands face-up on a regular basis. The best players usually give off very little information. They realize, especially when playing against tough competition, that there is little value to be gained by trying to trick someone based on their behavior. They correctly understand that a much better play is to focus on fundamentally sound poker and slightly altering betting lines to induce the actions they desire.

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Fairly Reliable Tells One of the behaviors I focus on most is how often a player blinks. A player generally blinks a lot because he doesn’t like what he sees. If the player doesn’t find the board attractive, it usually means he is bluffing. A player who is blinking at a relatively normal rate probably is not too concerned about being beat. It should be clear that blinking tells are easy to fake because all you have to do is blink at a predetermined rate. Breathing tells are also fairly reliable. A person who is excited tends to breathe a bit more heavily. Someone who is running a big bluff is often motionless, hoping his bluff goes unnoticed. Look for these tells even before the flop arrives. Some players’ breathing rates change immediately when they look down at A-A because they are excited. Others are capable of remaining calm for a long period of time before altering their breathing. For example, a player may breathe at a normal rate until the river, but may start to act naturally, giving away the strength of his hand, after getting stared down for a minute. As with blinking, this tell is quite easy to fake. A more reliable tell relates to the speed of a player’s heartbeat. You can often see this by observing a player’s neck or temple. Usually a fast beat indicates an excited player with a strong hand and a slow beat is the sign of a weak hand. Remember always to generate a baseline read on your opponents before going off their pulse, because hearts beat at wildly varying speeds. This tell is fairly reliable because most people have no clue how to control their heartbeat. For the most part, the more subconscious a tell is, the more reliable it is. Weak players tend to perk up a bit whenever they have a strong hand. When they look down at a strong hand, they “get in the game”, sitting up and paying attention. Likewise, they tend to lose interest when a bad flop arrives, especially with multiple players in the pot. The weakest players even demonstrate this tell in heads-up pots, allowing you to continuation-bet with a much higher success rate, checking when they appear interested and betting when they do not. This tell is easy to fake, but is usually fairly reliable because most players don’t realize they perk up when excited. Occasionally players will lose or gain interest when an obvious draw arrives on the turn or river. If you have a marginal made hand and your opponent gives off a tell indicating the river is particularly bad for him, you should probably run a bluff if you know he is capable of folding a reasonably strong made hand that loses to the obvious completed draws. For example, suppose a TAG raises from middle position and you call with K -10 on the button. The flop comes K -9 -3 . Your opponent bets 2/3 pot and you call because you likely have the best hand and you certainly do not want to raise, which would allow him to play perfectly. The turn is the 5 . Your opponent bets 2/3 pot and you call because he could easily be betting again with a draw or a 290

worse made hand. The river is the J . Your opponent looks disgusted and checks. If he has top pair, this is an awful card for him. Notice you lose if your opponent has a reasonable top pair. Even though you have a fairly strong made hand, betting around 3/4 pot to try to get your opponent off A-K, K-Q and K-10 is probably a good idea if you know he is capable of folding those hands. Checking behind is probably best if you are unsure if he will fold top pair. I have found, at least for me, given my image, that it is not good business to try to make someone fold top pair on a regular basis. As you acquire more information about your opponent, you will be able to more accurately define his calling and folding ranges in this situation, allowing you to exploit him. Inexperienced players often shake uncontrollably when ex cited. This tell seems to diminish as they put in more hours at the table. Since players are usually excited when they think they are going to win a big pot, this tell often indicates a strong hand. Conversely, the lack of shaking usually indicates weakness because again, the player wants to go unnoticed. While this tell should be easy to fake, most players who attempt it go overboard, shaking in an exaggerated manner, allowing you to easily pinpoint it. Note that some older players shake all the time. A tell means nothing if someone displays it every time he puts a chip in the pot. Some novice players give away the strength of their hand by their speed of play. It is fairly common to see players act quickly when they already know what they are going to do. For the most part, players act quickly with medium-strength made hands and draws. Suppose you raise from middle position and an LP calls on the button. The flop comes K-6-2 and you continuation-bet. Your opponent instantly calls. This will usually be a marginal K or middle pair because your opponent knows he isn’t going to fold and he also knows he isn’t going to raise. Because your opponent only had one good option, he did not need to think about his play. Extreme novice players tend to act quickly with premium hands because they think they are supposed to always raise with the nuts. Some thinking LAGs will act quickly when bluffing, trying to appear as confident as possible. Occasionally a person will play extremely slowly either with the nuts or when bluffing. If a player normally plays at a reasonable pace but thinks for a long time before making a decision at any point in the hand, it is probably a sign of extreme strength or weakness. Once you see a few showdowns when your opponent goes slowly, you will be able to figure out if he is usually strong or weak when he takes his time. While tells based on playing speed vary wildly for each player, they tend to be fairly reliable once identified, because most amateur players are not concerned with their speed. You must develop a solid baseline for this tell before relying on it to make a significant decision. To give a speech before making a play is usually a sign of extreme strength. Most players, especially when bluffing, are much too concerned with running a successful bluff to talk to their opponent. If someone says something along the lines 291

of, “I don’t think you have anything. I raise,” you should basically always fold. While I do not talk a lot at the table, it certainly has its benefits against weak competition. Most players cannot converse even reasonably coherently while bluffing. If you get in the habit of talking to your opponents during hands, you will discover that some players talk back when they have a strong hand but not when they are bluffing. This alone can change an easy call to a quick fold. The main problem with talking a lot at the table is that you usually give away more information than you obtain. However, if you become a world-class table talker, it will reap its rewards, at least until you move up to the middle-stakes games where your opponents are smart enough to never reply.

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When and Where to Look While it is certainly beneficial to know which tells are reasonably reliable, you must also learn to keep your eyes open, constantly looking for them. One of the most important times to look for a tell is when the action folds to you. Since there will always be players yet to act, take a quick glance to your left and see if they are giving off signs of strength or weakness. For example, if everyone folds to you in the cutoff, you have a marginal hand and you notice the TAG in the small blind seems ready to put money in the pot, you should fold. On the flip side, if you are in the hijack and you notice the cutoff and button are not interested in playing, you should consider stealing the blinds with a wide range because you are essentially on the button. Whenever there is any significant change to the state of a hand, make it a point to look at your opponents. When the flop, turn or river is dealt, you should be looking their way. Watch your opponents’ physical reactions when a significant bet is placed. Most players’ initial reactions are reasonably honest. When you get punched in the nose, it is tough to smile. Similarly, when you have K-K and the flop comes A-Q-8, it is difficult to show no emotion. When someone bets, players often look at the other player while he is thinking about what to do. They are looking at the wrong player because most of the pressure to keep a good poker face is on the player who made the bet, not the one facing it. Suppose a TAG goes all-in on the river and the action is on an LP. Most players watch what the LP does, but it doesn’t matter what he does because the hand is over as soon as he calls or folds. The TAG is still facing significant pressure to keep his composure. In most situations, you should be looking at the bettor, not the caller. When you pinpoint someone’s specific tell, never discuss it or act in a manner that conveys you picked something up. Especially in small-stakes games, you often see weak players pick up a sign of weakness, such as a guy slouching down in his chair, say something like “Oh, you are uninterested, huh?” and make a correct call. The player who gave off the tell is almost certain to learn to never repeat that behavior. Since you obviously want to maintain the profitability of your game, you should never let your opponents know what they are doing wrong. A reliable, accurate tell is like the goose that laid the golden egg. It makes no sense at all to slaugh ter it.

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Reverse Tells You must constantly be on the lookout for players who are capable of subtly exhibiting reverse tells. While most weak players in small- and middle-stakes games use reverse tells in an obvious manner, the best players use them sparingly and only when they are highly likely to succeed. It also does no good to attempt a reverse tell against a weak player because he will be oblivious to it. It’s unwise to attempt reverse tells against world-class players because they will intelligently read through them. It is ideal to use reverse tells against players who are aware enough to know they saw a tell but are not advanced enough to understand what it truly means. To profitably give off a reverse tell, you must know how your opponent will perceive your action. For example, if you want your opponent to think you are weak, if he thinks you will display the standard tells of strength when you are weak, you should act in a strong manner because that is how your opponent expects you to act when you are weak. There are numerous levels of reverse tells, which is why you should primarily use them against intermediate opponents who will make mistakes. One other time to consider a reverse tell is when your opponent clearly is about to take an action that is bad for you. Suppose you are running a total bluff on the river and your opponent is counting out his chips such that he is obviously going to call. At that point, consider making some sort of gesture that might make your opponent reconsider his call. It should be clear that some opponents take their time when the action is on them, and pulling the trigger on a reverse tell too soon could be detrimental. You do not want to become known to eventually throw out a reverse tell when weak if stared down for a long period of time.

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Having no Tells The best players in the world give off very few tells. Tells usually arise due to emotional involvement, and most professional poker players know to not get emotionally involved in any situation. Even in a highly volatile spot, you should not get excited. If you get excited whenever you play a big hand, you are either playing over your head or you lack the experience necessary to maintain your composure. To perfect your poker face, you must constantly practice. If you never focus on your poker face while playing, you should expect to frequently give away tells. The best players breath, blink and act the same way during every hand. They do not move their face or body when they are thinking. If you act the same during every single hand you play, your opponents will find it impossible to generate reads on you. The best players are smart enough to only alter their play when they are confident in the result, allowing them to focus on what actually matters, which is playing technically sound poker. Always consider tells, but never put too much stock in them until you are confident in their reliability. If you play a fundamentally sound game, you will win money. Tells provide the icing on the cake.

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Logical Thinking I strongly suggest all poker players strive to think in a logical manner. The biggest losers and the biggest tilters are often the players who let their emotions guide their actions. If you allow every bad beat to cause you emotional anguish, you will have a difficult time thinking clearly. If you are constantly in a state of shock at the poker table, your money will find its way into someone else’s pocket.

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Ask “Why?” I firmly believe that you should do your best to figure out why all relevant things in your life function as they do. You do not need to know how or why the sun rises every morning, but you do need to know why, for example, you have bad results when someone consistently check-raises you on the turn. If you can tweak your strategy so that you can defend against turn check-raises without significantly decreasing your expected value on other betting rounds, you should. To determine the proper adjustments, you must first figure out why you lose to turn check-raises. By the same note, many poker players do things away from the table that severely diminish their chances of winning. Most players look for simple solutions to their problems, such as, “Don’t get drunk the day before you play,” whereas the real answer to their problem may be “Don’t get drunk a week before you play, eat healthily and exercise regularly.” You should learn to not only think for yourself, but to think outside of the box. One of the most enlightening moments of my poker career was around eight years ago when I was talking to a friend who, in my opinion, is one of the best cash-game players in the world. I was struggling to beat $5/$10 no-limit cash games online and went to him for help. He mentioned how he simply plays ABC poker and crushes the games. I said that I thought that was what I was doing. He replied with something along the lines of “My ABC poker is probably way different than your ABC poker.” My ABC strategy was bad and his was good. I eventually put in countless hours of study and eventually figured out how to play an entirely different style that now allows me to profit in some of the toughest games online. A concept is neither right nor correct simply because you think it is. If something is a fact, it doesn’t matter what you think about it. Cash-game players often say they prefer to play a passive pre-flop strategy so they can see more flops. While seeing flops may be fun, seeing flops as the aggressor can give you a much higher win rate. Although you may enjoy seeing cheap flops with a wide range, it has been proven over and over that you will either lose or be a small winner in the long run with this strategy unless you win most of the pots when your opponent misses post-flop. What you think about the subject does not change the facts.

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Do Not be Superstitious You should not be superstitious in any way. Some players subconsciously trick themselves into playing poorly when the conditions at the table are not perfect. Some say they play poorly if they don’t get their morning coffee. Some say they play poorly if they don’t have a picture of their dog on the table in front of them. While it may or may not be true, if you happen to miss your morning coffee, you must play your best and forget about everything else. The only good superstition to live by is, “It is unlucky to be superstitious.”

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Think in Terms of Equity I usually try to figure out if every decision I make is +EV or – EV. For example, if I have to pick between going to the gym, going out on the town with friends or playing a poker session, I will likely pick the one that will increase what I refer to as my “happiness EV”. The main questions you should ask yourself before taking any action are: “Will this action win or lose money?”, “Will this action harm me physically?” and “Will this action make me happier or sadder?” If the only thing that matters to you is making money, you should live your life in a way that maximizes the amount of time you can play fundamentally sound poker. While most people would agree they want to make lots of money, I have found that this does not work in reality, at least for me. From the time I was 19 years old until I was 21, I played poker 12 hours per day, every day. While I did win a lot of money, I had no social life and few interactions with people. I found myself with a flush bank account but a huge negative balance in my happiness EV. Something had to change, so I stopped playing so much poker and started enjoying life. I want to recommend against thinking about things only in terms of dollars per hour. For example, if you make $100 playing poker, you may think any time you spend not playing poker costs you $100 per hour. The major flaw in this argument is that you cannot play poker 24 hours per day. You may only be able to play six hours of $100-per-hour poker per day. After that, either your win rate may plummet or you may burn yourself out, requiring you to take an extended break. After you put in however many hours you can play on a regular basis, spend the rest of your time doing whatever makes you happy. I personally like to work on various businesses, work out and play other games. You probably enjoy other things. Figure out what makes you happy and do it. You only have one shot at life. You must make the most of it.

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Running Good and Running Bad Many poker players lack a solid, logical understanding of the concept of running good or bad. Some players think if they are running bad, they are destined to lose forever, and if they are running good, they will never lose again. Others think the opposite, that if they have lost recently, they are likely to win next time. In reality, you cannot alter whether you are running good or bad and because of this, you should not worry about it. If you are making +EV plays, you will win money in the long run. I believe most amateur players misunderstand the concept of luck because they are drastically under-bankrolled. If they had the requisite amount of money to play their game comfortably, they would not care if they went on a 12 buy-in downswing. It is much easier to not worry about losing $12,000 at $5/$10 if you have $100,000 in your bankroll instead of $20,000. If players understand the swings they are likely to encounter over the long run, they will not be ecstatic when things go well and devastated when they go poorly. It is not uncommon to go on huge upswings or terrible downswings. It is part of the game. If you know what to expect before you play, you should not be shocked or amazed when expected results occur. When I watch sporting events, people usually do not understand my lack of interest. For example, when someone hits a home run, I don’t care because I knew when he stepped up to the plate, he had a chance to hit it out of the park. I see the world as a large game in which every event happens some percentage of the time. If you know most things, both good and bad, are possible, you can prepare yourself and react appropriately when the time comes.

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Tilt Tilt is a state of mental confusion in which a player acts in a less than optimal way. While tilt usually involves a player acting in an overly aggressive manner, sometimes a player acts too passively. In a perfect world, you would never go on tilt. Tilt is a problem of perception. When you take a bad beat, you are the only person at the table who feels upset. You may say, “True, but I just lost a lot of money!” While losing money is not ideal, who said losing money is actually a bad thing? Hopefully by this point in your poker career, you have a bankroll that should allow you to easily withstand the normal swings of the game. If you are nowhere near going broke, why should you feel panic as if you are playing with your last buy-in? Once you have played poker for more than an hour, you have probably figured out that losing is a highly probable outcome of any hand. If you know you can easily lose on any hand, why should you be upset when it happens? If you wake up tomorrow morning and it is raining, should you be upset because you have to carry around an umbrella all day? I don’t think so, because rain is a somewhat likely outcome of the weather every day. In poker, being unlucky is a somewhat likely outcome. As you delve further into this section, you will see how perception plays a key role. Most of the time, the tilter thinks he should experience a different sensation than he actually is experiencing. Every sensation you experience is controlled by your brain and the outcomes you have trained it to expect. If you are delusional, expecting only amazing results, you will tend to be disappointed. While the best players in the world tend to have tilt mostly under control, everyone plays poorly from time to time. Try to play your “A” game as often as possible. The more time you spend playing your “A” game, the less time you will spend playing your “B” or “C” game. In the past, when I was on tilt or when I did not want to play poker, I usually quit playing. While this may seem like an excellent solution to tilt, it was only masking the problem. For an oversimplified example, let’s assume you almost never tilt and win $75 per hour when you play. If you play 10 hours per day, you will win $750. If I make $100 per hour, because I play amazingly well at the start of each session, but I quit as soon as I get the least bit tilty, my average day may only last four hours, winning me $400 per day. If winning money is your main goal, you should put some emphasis on not tilting. If you have a severe tilt problem that you simply cannot fix, quitting whenever you tilt is much better than playing on tilt. Suppose you win $100 per hour when sane and lose $200 per hour when you are on tilt. If you spend six hours per day playing your “A” game and four hours on tilt, you will lose $200 per day. Figure out what causes you to tilt, and why. Developing a sound understanding of 303

the normal swings of the game has greatly improved my ability to handle, and even negate, tilt. When I started playing poker, I would get upset every time I lost with the best hand. It should be clear that if you get all-in with 80% equity, you are going to lose 20% of the time. You may or may not lose this particular hand, but you will lose 20% of the time in the long run. Once you understand and accept what you have signed up for when you sit down to the table, you will be better able to handle common, everyday occurrences. It would be silly for someone in any other profession to get upset when a normal occurrence takes place at his job. It would be absurd for a chef to be angry because patrons came in his restaurant, forcing him to cook. It would be ri diculous for a taxi driver to get upset if someone got in his taxi, forcing him to drive somewhere. If people show up to the poker table and try to give you their money, you should be thrilled, even if they happen to go home with the money on any particular day. Perhaps you feel as if the best hand should win every time, which you should know is irrational. While I have never had an entitlement problem, quite a few players do. I have realized for a long time that in all aspects of life, especially when luck is involved, you usually do not get what you think you deserve. I have also found that most people think they should get way more than they actually deserve. It seems like almost every single one of my new poker students wants to know why he doesn’t win all the time. The answer is because he is simply not that good at the game yet. With lots of practice, study and dedication, he should expect to see results, but even then, in a game filled with variance, the results may not come for a long time. Whenever you sit down at the table, if you know you have a fairly high chance of losing with the best hand, it isn’t too shocking when it actually happens. I also used to tilt a bit when I made a big hand and didn’t get paid off. When you sit around for what seems like forever, patiently waiting for a hand, only to win the blinds when you finally pick up a premium holding, it is easy to get frustrated. You must not let this faze you. Believe it or not, I have found that being completely card-dead does not make most poker players happy. When players show up to the poker table, they usually expect to have the opportunity to play the game. If you get 9 -2 every hand, you will have a difficult time actually playing poker. Accept that you may not get to play when you show up to the poker table. In fact, when you show up to the casino, you may not even be able to get in a game because all the seats are filled or the games are all unbeatable. Poker was not designed to make you feel good when you are on the wrong side of variance. You will much more likely get a string of hands in the bottom 85% of hands than in the top 15%. Some players naively think they are supposed to get a playable hand every orbit. Don’t be delusional. Sometimes you will get good cards and sometimes you won’t. I rarely go on tilt today, and when I do, it is because I made a blatantly poor play. 304

This usually happens when I do not think a hand entirely through before taking my action, or I forget an important piece of information from past experiences with my opponent. When you make a blunder, you must maintain your composure. If you lose your mind, you will likely make additional poor plays. When I make a mistake, I write it down in my notebook and revisit it when I get home. This allows me to forget about my mistake and continue playing my best. Once I get home and review my error, I figure out what I can do to make sure it does not happen again, and move forward in a positive, productive manner. Happy tilt occurs when you feel invincible, usually from winning a few pots in a row. It is quite easy to feel as if you can’t lose when you are collecting every pot. This form of tilt is quite easy to see in online poker players’ results by using pokertracking software. Some of the biggest winners in the game have gone through long break-even stretches, usually due to happy tilt. After crushing the games for a while, they start to feel as if they can significantly outplay their opponents postflop, resulting in the loosening of their pre-flop hand requirements. Eventually, they start playing too many hands from out of position. Even if you are an excellent postflop player, if you raise with K -10 from early position on a regular basis, you are almost guaranteed to lose. In live poker, happy tilt is a bit tougher to pinpoint unless someone is rais ing and re-raising with a wide range of hands from most positions. If you find your results lacking even though you think you are playing well and feeling great, make sure you are not playing too many hands because you think you can outplay your opponents on later streets. Every player displays a few warning signs before going on tilt. Some players show their frustration visibly, breathing heavily, throwing their cards at the dealer or berating other players. I shuffle my chips more, often during a hand, which I think is unacceptable, and I stop taking notes. I have found that when I no longer feel like taking notes at the table, I am either very tired, which means I am unlikely to play my best, or I am on the verge of tilting. When this happens I go through a routine to refresh myself and get in the proper state of mind. When things are going poorly, take a break and think about anything besides poker for a few minutes. Stand up and walk away from the table for a while. If you sit back down and you are clearly steaming, I suggest you quit for the day. Ideally though, you will be able to clear your mind and think soundly about the game. For more advanced players who plan to make a living from the game, I actually suggest you force yourself to play through the tilt for a little while. If you normally quit as soon as you go on tilt, require yourself to play another orbit or two before you quit. Play your absolute best poker during this learning period. You will eventually be able to play two additional orbits with no problem. After you have mastered two orbits, you should strive to play an additional hour. Before you know it, you will quickly get off tilt, allowing you to play your “A” game for a long period of time. If you happen to be on long-term tilt, meaning you start a session on tilt and never 305

get off of it, usually due to a terrible string of beats you simply cannot forget, consider taking some time away from poker. If you do not enjoy the game and are not playing your best, there is no point in playing. During your “vacation”, you can either think about poker, study books and training videos, or forget about it altogether. Do whatever calms and clears your mind. I have experienced one period in my 10-year poker career during which I simply did not want to play. Most people refer to this as being burned out. To remedy my problem, I took a month away from the game and focused on playing new (at least to me) forms of poker, such as pot-limit Omaha and HORSE. When I came back to Hold’em, I found a new love for the game. I was no longer playing in a robotic manner and I had a new perception of the game. I was focused much more on playing my opponents instead of my cards. Taking time off from my main game made me want to play it more than ever. Currently, I take around one week off from poker each month. This keeps me fresh and wanting to play as much as possible. If you do not enjoy what you are doing, you will probably not do too well at it. If you can fall in love with playing, studying and mastering poker, you will be well on your way to success. I also went to mention one other thing I do during my breaks when I am feeling a bit rattled. I recently met Elliot Roe, a hypnotist who helps players maintain a perfect poker mindset. When I take a break away from the table, I occasionally listen to an audio file he prepared for me that helps me get back in the correct state of mind to play my best. It most likely helps me meditate for a few brief moments before getting back in the heat of battle, and I have found it immensely helpful. It is of the utmost importance that you can identify who at your table is on tilt. Do everything in your power to exploit them. Most players play reasonably well when they are sane but terribly when they are on tilt. Top cash-game players often discuss how this is where the winners’ edge come from. If you can pinpoint when your opponents are tilting and make it a point to do something about it, your win rate will drastically improve. Look for warning signs that your opponents are on tilt, or are about to be on tilt. If they are throwing their cards or looking frustrated, get ready. While each player misplays hands in a specific manner when tilting, most either invest too much money with marginal hands, usually top or middle pair, or refuse to believe their opponents can actually have what they are representing. Knowing this, your goal is to be able to beat top pair with a reasonable kicker and then pile money in the pot. I know this sounds simple, but it really is that easy most of the time. When you are on tilt, your brain forgets everything it does not instinctively know, resulting in terrible play. While your opponent probably knows to fold top pair with a bad kicker when someone check-raises the river, while on tilt, he may totally forget this. If you pay attention to your opponents, you will be able to exploit them to the maximum when they are at their weakest. 306

As a cash-game player, you should be at the casino when people are playing their worst. This is usually in the late-night and early-morning hours. If you show up refreshed and ready to play around midnight when everyone else is tired and drunk, you will have an excellent opportunity to clean up while they’re trying to maintain sanity. Plan ahead and put yourself in situations that are beneficial for you and awful for your opponents.

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Improving Poker is a unique game in that it is constantly changing. If you think you know everything necessary to crush the game, you will likely fall behind. To become, and remain, an excellent poker player, you must constantly strive to improve. You will probably find that improving your skills actually makes the game more enjoyable, allowing you to play with a fresh mind for a long period of time. As long as you improve at a faster rate than your peers, you should win money in the long run. If they start progressing faster than you, expect to lose your edge.

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Record Your Play For the last few years, I have recorded almost every significant hand I have played in a notebook. At the table, as soon as a relevant hand is complete, I quickly scribble down the details and prepare for the next hand. I also write down most small hands that many players view as irrelevant. While I often hear snide remarks from the other players at the table for writing in a little book after every hand, this process has been a huge boost to my game. After each session, I review all the hands I played and note any particularly interesting ones. I discuss these difficult situations with other professional poker players. I also bring up the mundane decisions just to make sure I am on the right track in situations I view as standard. Even a standard continuation bet can occasionally prompt an interesting discussion. A 200-page, 5.5” x 3.5”, spiral-bound notebook works best for me. I usually keep it under one of my legs or on the rail when I am not writing in it. I keep a retractable pen with a sturdy clip in the spiral binding for easy access. Before I play each day, I write “H S B P” at the top of each page in the notebook with a large space between adjacent letters. These denote hand, stack, blinds and position. This reminds me to collect this very relevant information. With numerous pieces of information to collect in a short period of time, it is easy to forget one of them. I tend to forget to write down my hand, which is obviously a disaster when reviewing the notes. After a hand is complete, I usually write down the board first because I tend to forget the cards that appear to be less relevant. After that, I fill in the blanks, writing down all the action. I sometimes add remarks after the hand, usually when I make an abnormal play. When you make a play that is fairly out of line, it is important to note your reasoning so you know why you did it when you review the session. It takes about ten seconds to record this information. Taking notes at the table may be difficult at first, but it will become second nature with practice. At typical page in my notebook will look similar to this: H JJ S 1500 B 5/10 P B UTG LAG raises to 30, I 90, he calls Ts 6c 3d I 120 he calls 3h I 240 he calls 4c I 400 he calls JT, I win This means a LAG raised to $30 out of his $1,500 stack at $5/$10 from first position, I re-raised from the button to $90 and he called. The flop came 10-6-3. He checked, I bet $120 and he called. The turn was a 3. He checked, I bet $240 and he called. The river was a 4. He checked, I bet $400, he called with J-10 and I won. 310

It is important to question why you choose a particular play. If you are regularly auto-piloting, playing mindlessly, your results will deteriorate over time. Actively taking notes forces me to pay attention to the action at all times, and it provides a significant amount of information to review away from the table. It is well known that the best online players in the world review their games on a regular basis using various poker-tracking programs. They have it easy because they don’t have to manually record anything. Even though you have to do a little extra work in the live poker arena, you will find it is well worth the effort.

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Find a Coach One of the quickest ways to improve your technical skills is to find a well-qualified coach who is either one of the biggest winners in your current game or was a big winner at your game but now plays bigger games. Note that many “poker coaches” are not winning players. These people are hustlers who use smooth talk to trick gullible players out of their money. I hire a coach every time I decide to learn a new game or when I feel a bit rusty at my current game. I have spent well over $25,000 on coaching throughout my career, and it has been well worth it. If possible, approach the biggest winner in your current game and see if he is interested in discussing poker. The best players are often willing to share ideas with other players they view as good because the relationship will be mutually beneficial. If you are new to the game, meaning this player probably will not want to talk strategy with you, ask if he’ll coach you if you pay him the hourly rate he makes when playing. Or offer to take him to dinner. Most good players win around 10 big blinds per hour in live cash games, so that would be a fair rate for coaching. So, coaching from a $5/$10 player might reasonably cost $100 per hour. There are also coaching sites online that keep a catalog of coaches. These listings should help you find exactly who you need. Be aware that, as in live poker, there are scam artists masquerading as online poker coaches. Perform your due diligence. Once you have hired a coach, you must figure out the best learning style for you. Some coaches discuss content like a college professor, but I have found the best method, from a coach’s standpoint, is to ask students questions about their own hands and to review the coach’s hands as if the student was playing them. Notice this requires both the student and teacher to record their play. Ideally, the student will be able to play a bit online, generating entire hand histories, allowing the teacher to see how he plays every hand, not just hands of particular interest to the student. I estimate that my students have two hidden leaks for every one they know about. Discussing general concepts is also a good idea. Simply getting ideas out of your head will help you think more clearly about them. If your coach does not meet your expectations, be quick to express your concerns, or just quit. There is no point in trying to learn from someone you don’t particularly like when there are so many good players offering their services. The best coaches will either alter their coaching strategy to meet your needs or help you find a different coach. If your coach gives you any sort of negative attitude, you should probably find another coach.

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Develop a Study Group Players who play similar stakes sometimes form a study group that meets regularly to discuss poker. These meetings can take place live or online, allowing players from all over the world to share ideas. Some study groups focus on reading poker literature, some watch training videos and others review hands. To make the most of time spent in your study group, be sure everyone is likeminded, wanting to constantly improve. Ideally, your study group will not devolve into a social club. There is nothing wrong with socializing, but to improve at poker, you must set aside time to work hard on your game. The main goal of a study group is to bounce ideas off your peers so as to develop better strategies to crush your game. As you make friends in the poker world, you will find they become your informal study group. Whenever I room with someone on a poker trip, we spend a great deal of time discussing hands we recently played and ideas pertaining to optimizing our expected value as professionals. Mindfully discussing poker with thoughtful players should definitely improve your game. Forums are similar to study groups. You can discuss your ideas with other poker players, but in a less personal way. Also, unless the person replying to you is wellknown, you never really know his skill level. I operate a free forum at FloatTheTurn.com where I answer any and all questions posted. You may get more replies from larger forums with tons of members, but their quality will usually be lower than in a close-knit group.

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Analyze Training Material Large volumes of training material have hit the market in recent years. In 1970 there was almost no poker training content. Today the possibilities are endless. As in coaching, numerous people masquerading as professional poker players have invaded this somewhat lucrative market. If the author of a book or training video does not actually beat the game he is discussing, I don’t take his material seriously, and neither should you. There are quite a few great poker books on the market, but the vast majority are stinkers. This is because most winning poker players recognize they can make more money by playing poker than by writing about it. Also, most poker players do not possess the skill, patience and drive required to sit down and pen a respectable book. The people with this time and patience are either authors or workaholic professional poker players. I just happen to love working, and I am also a professional poker player who can string together a few comprehensible sentences. I am also lucky to have a large audience, allowing me to write profitably. I personally read almost every poker book that hits the market that either gets decent reviews or is written by a well-respected poker player. Since most books cost little compared to the amounts of money I deal with at the poker table, a book is well worth the cost if I pick up one useful tip. If you have limited time, I suggest you read books recommended by players you respect. Online poker training sites have popped up over the last few years, taking the poker-training industry by storm. I have owned and operated my personal training site, FloatTheTurn.com, for over seven years. I subscribe to quite a few training sites. I watch training videos whenever I have downtime, usually when I am eating alone, taking a break from whatever I am working on or exercising at the gym. It is important to watch videos by players who beat the games they are playing. Try to study players who play in games similar to yours. While online training sites used to cover only online games, there are now a few options relating to live poker. I strongly suggest you check them out.

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Play Poker Thoughtfully Most players mindlessly grind at the poker table. Your game will quickly progress if you actively think about every decision during every hand. Be mindful about why you are making a decision. It is quite easy to fall into a rut in which you simply “play poker” and fail to think too deeply. You must constantly focus on playing optimally and improving your game. At the table, it helps to focus on how your opponents are playing. If someone is better than you, try to figure out what he is doing that makes him good. If a player is weak, identify what he is doing wrong and ensure that his leaks do not become part of your game. If you can quantify why a particular play is good or bad, you can add it to or delete it from your playbook, allowing you to customize a strategy filled with only the best plays. Perhaps the most costly way to learn is by playing against significantly tougher competition than normal for you. While I do not recommend this approach, it has its benefits, especially if money is not too important to you. There are now a few rich businessmen who regularly play, and beat, the toughest games. Although they initially sat in the toughest games in the world and lost a fair amount of money, over time they figured out the optimal adjustments to make and are now significant threats. I suggest you test yourself against tougher competition by taking shots at larger games when there are also a few soft spots playing. You can expect to win some money from the weak players, and you will still get to tangle with the big winners often enough to gain experience. You also have the priceless opportunity to observe how the good players play in their regular game. If you are paying attention, you will eventually learn how to adjust and crush the biggest games.

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Live a Balanced Life Cash games are interesting in that you can play almost as much as you desire. This is different from most occupations, where you are expected or forced to go home at some point. If you have a job where you are paid a salary, you get no additional money from working more than necessary. If you earn an hourly rate, you are cut off after working some number of hours, usually 40 per week. You can put in as many hours as you want at poker. While this sounds nice, your hourly rate will plummet at some point due to lack of focus and drive. One of the most underrated skills a cash-game player must possess is the ability to honestly assess his level of focus and know when to take some time away from poker. I strongly suggest every poker player find a hobby. This could be hiking, painting, singing, reading, fishing, learning, drinking or fencing. It doesn’t really matter, as long as you enjoy the activity and it takes your mind off poker. I believe that the best hobbies for poker players are those at which they can directly control the result. If you can create something in your life you are proud of beyond your poker prowess, which is overly susceptible to variance, you will have a rock to lean on when poker goes poorly. I also suggest you spend time with your family and friends. There is something comforting about spending time with loved ones. If you haven’t seen your family or friends in a while, make it a point to hang out with them. Short vacations, homecooked meals and engaging discussions create excellent bonding environments. Sometimes your loved ones will get on your nerves, but if you realize that you want to enjoy their company instead of bickering with them, everyone will have a great time. I completely lacked balance when I first played poker. I would play for around 12 hours per day, spending the other four glued to the television. I did not hang out with people or leave my condominium. I would go outside once per week to buy unhealthy groceries. While I was making a decent amount of money, I was miserable. Something had to change. I believe I now have achieved a great balance in my life. Each month, I spend around two weeks on the road playing poker followed by two weeks at home with my girlfriend. When I am on the road, I play poker almost all of the time. When I am home, I do not play poker at all. Instead, I spend time with my girlfriend and my friends, work out, run businesses, write books, coach students, play non-poker games and read. I particularly enjoy working out because it is a fairly low-variance activity at which I can constantly improve if I dedicate myself to it. I get as much from it as I put in. If I work hard, I will see amazing results. If I don’t, I will see nothing. I also enjoy eating healthily because I know if I eat well, I will see the results in my physique. This is quite different from poker, where you can play amazingly well 317

and go home empty-handed for long periods of time. For me, having something I can directly control leads to mental stability. I suggest you develop other revenue streams besides poker. The extra money will not only alleviate the financial pressure most players face, but it will give you something to focus on when you are taking time away from poker. When I started playing poker, I only had my poker skills to rely on. I remember losing around half of my $20,000 bankroll and wondering if putting all my eggs in the poker basket was such a great idea. I quickly figured out that I could play with much less fear if I had enough steady money coming in each month to pay my bills. I quickly grinded up as much money as I could and bought a rental property. I continued to save, and then bought another. I currently have a few rental houses, a poker-training business, countless side projects and numerous investments that keep me fully occupied when I am home. Eventually, I hope to have a lot of rental houses and other profitable, passive investments, allowing me financial freedom with relatively few headaches. Keep in mind, every income stream you develop will likely cause some headaches, but it will usually be worth it. Ethical behavior will lead to happiness. When I was a truly dumb kid, I would have little problem taking shortcuts or doing somewhat shady things if I thought they would help get me ahead. I have since learned that doing anything out of line is extremely –EV. Feeling like a scumbag and having to constantly watch your back is not an ideal mindset. If you do the right thing all the time, you will have the respect of your peers and can sleep soundly at night. It is not always the easiest option, but it will lead to a much happier life. I believe most people simply want to be happy. If you are a professional poker player, you are in luck. You have many freedoms most people can only dream of. You can work when you want, relocate when you want and do pretty much whatever you want. Unfortunately, most poker players are sad and depressed. They tend to dwell on their “bad luck”, which is actually standard variance. Most of these players lack balance in their lives, usually playing poker way too much and doing unproductive things when away from the game. It is nearly impossible to be happy and fulfilled if you spend all of your time sitting at a poker table and engaging in meaningless activities. To be happy, you have to take a step back and learn to enjoy life.

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Life Leaks Almost every poker player has at least one life leak. While I have had and conquered my share of them, I am happy to say I now have them fully under control. If a poker player has one life leak, and it’s not too serious, he can usually make it as a professional in the long run, but if he has more than one or is really deep into the one he has, he is destined to fail. My best advice is to eradicate any and all life leaks as soon as possible and do everything in your power to ensure you don’t pick up any new ones. I am going to outline the primary life leaks I have encountered or seen others struggle with, and I will address how to avoid and escape them. I am not telling you what to do or not do with your hard-earned money and free time. I am simply going to address the issues I have personally seen demolish countless bankrolls and lives.

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Gambling There are two types of gamblers: those who enjoy gambling on everything and those who enjoy gambling only when they think they have an edge. If you enjoy gambling on everything, you simply must stop. Few professional poker players fall in this category – most play because they know they have an edge – but some do. A player just embarking on a poker career may stumble up to a craps table and run hot, often winning more money than he has ever encountered. Soon he finds himself at the craps table before or after every poker session. I know a few people who will buy-in for $1,000 in a poker game, take whatever they have after a few hours to the pit and gamble until they are either broke or have a ton of cash. If you have such a leak, you simply must plug it because you will not be able to withstand the constant drain on your bankroll. Unless you are cheating, you will slowly lose to the house edge at your game of choice. When you walk up to a craps table, for example, you’re basically lighting $2 on fire for every $100 you bet. Why would you want to light $2 on fire, over and over again? If you bet that same $100 sixty times, which is not at all uncommon, you will lose $120 in equity. You can find much more productive and profitable things to do with your time and money. As for the poker players who gamble when they think they have an edge, this can also be detrimental because you may not have the edge you think you have. This type of gambling gets poker players in the most trouble. The first game most poker players run into is blackjack. Every few years there is a huge success story about a player or group of players who get rich off blackjack by counting cards, shuffle tracking, finding inadequate dealers or various other methods. While winning lots of money at blackjack may sound like a fun dream to chase, unless you have spent loads of time perfecting your skills, you probably aren’t good enough. And you likely don’t have the bankroll to succeed, as whatever edge you stand to gain will be miniscule. If you have the bankroll, you still may get banned from a casino if security catches on to your scheme. If you can beat those odds, you still have to be sure you don’t have any other life leaks. Blackjack is a boatload of work with very little payoff. Unless you devote yourself to it, you likely will not make it, and even if you do, your career may be short-lived due to casino security or regulations. The second game that poker players fall into is sports betting. There is a wealth of information about sports betting on the internet. Many poker players devour this information and quickly hop in. I sure did. My main issue was that watching the games I bet on completely sucked my focus away from poker. I would sit down at the poker table and spend the entire day watching a sporting event, paying very little attention to the poker action. This is obviously not good for your poker game. Also, unless you make sports-betting a full-time job, it’s hard to get enough action down at a good price on any specific game to turn a reasonable profit. As with 321

blackjack, a giant bankroll is mandatory. If you bet with a bookie or an online site, you will occasionally not get paid when you win, destroying your profitability. Even if you know the person you are betting with, you will get stiffed more often than you can imagine. Even if you find someone totally trustworthy to bet with no rake, which a lot of poker players do, you will be flipping coins simply for the experience of betting. Again, this will suck your attention away from poker and you will suffer unnecessary swings in your bankroll. Even though this is another beatable game, it is much tougher than it appears. The last beatable games are video poker and slot machines. While these games are technically different, I will lump them together because your edge usually comes from the same place. I know a few guys who supplement their poker income with video poker and slot machine play. Most machines will return less money than you put in them. However, casinos will often return some percentage of your losses, in the form of free play, comps, gift cards, prizes, raffles or entries into tournaments. For instance, if you play a video poker machine where you will lose 1% of the money you put in, and the casino returns 1.5%, you make 0.5%, which is a nice return. Again, this type of gambling will result in huge swings that can quickly wreck your bankroll. The house edge on a slot machine may be higher than you guessed. It is rare to find casino promotions that allow you to be hugely profitable. You will have to spend countless hours sitting in front of a machine, mindlessly pressing buttons. The last thing I want to do after a long day of poker is to put in three hours in front of a video poker machine. This may be another form of beatable gambling, but you will probably lose money unless you shop around and find the absolute best games and promotions, and even if you find them, you must invest a ton of time that you could spend doing other, more productive activities. It is worth mentioning that you will get comps from all casino gambling besides perhaps poker and sports betting. It may seem awesome to get free hotel rooms, food, gifts and other bonuses, but you are almost certainly paying far more than they are worth. Casinos have become quite savvy to players who give just enough action to get comps. You may be comped one or two times, but they will quickly cut you off or ask for additional action. If you are going to gamble somewhere, I suggest you confine it to one casino chain so you get significant comps at one place instead of insignificant comps at a lot of places. That said, if you are getting a lot of comps, you are likely losing a lot of equity. I cannot stress enough how important it is to stay away from all games besides poker, unless you have devoted your life to one of the other games such that you know for a fact that you have an edge. If you play those games, you must play them perfectly. Poker is a much more forgiving game than those you play against the casino. You can have a much greater edge, pick your competition and pick your hours. While it is thrilling to constantly have action, you will be a significantly more profitable poker player if you can get all the action you need at the poker 322

table. Poker demands focus. If you are not paying attention, your edge will quickly evaporate. To avoid these games, relate every bet you make to lighting money on fire. To cure my sports-betting problem, I sim ply stopped following sports. I deleted all sports applications from my phone and stopped watching sports on television. I now actively ignore the sporting events on the television around the poker room. I rarely go to sporting events with my friends. While this approach may not make you the most popular person, it will keep you away from this brutal life leak. You must learn to not associate sports with betting, which some people, myself included, find impossible. To avoid casino games, limit yourself to only the poker room when you are inside the casino. Set real, meaningful consequences for yourself if you fail and stumble into the pit. Consider self-banning yourself from those games, which some casinos will help you to do. Be careful to not also ban yourself from the poker room! I have found the best way to avoid playing these games is to simply never go around them, and if you happen to be around them, remember the pain of losing, not the joy of winning. If seeing a blackjack table makes you want to throw up, you will be much less likely to take a seat than if it makes you think of wads of cash. If you cannot impose a ban on yourself due to your own lack of self-control, consider seeking professional help. Gambling addiction is a serious disease. If you have it, do not be afraid to seek help. To summarize, these gambling games drain your bankroll a few percent at a time, they devour your attention and they cause huge, unnecessary swings to your bankroll. You should be able to see how slowly losing small percentages of your bankroll can hurt. At the poker table, if your focus is elsewhere, you will lose your profitability. If you swing down too far, you may not be able to comfortably play your regular poker game, forcing you to move down, killing your hourly rate. All in all, not much good can come from these games. I have paid enough for this lesson for all of us. Avoid them at all cost.

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Alcohol While I have never been much of a drinker, for a brief time during my poker career, I thought it would be a bright idea to drink at the table. This didn’t go too well. It started one day when I decided to have a drink 30 minutes before I knew my session would end. While that did not cause a problem, I eventually started drinking an hour before my session would end. Later, I would sit down and start drinking right away. This didn’t last too long because I saw an immediate drop in my win rate. Fortunately, I keep good records and I knew drinking was a serious leak. I am sure you have heard this often enough, but if you are drinking while playing poker, you are burning money. Stop immediately. For a different stretch of time, I would go home and drink a lot. I am not the type of person to go out and party hard all night. I am the type of person who goes home, has a bottle of wine and watches a movie or reads a book. While this seems harmless enough, waking up with a hangover every day hurt my productivity and my results. I would sleep more, work out less, eat worse food and get fewer productive things done. I became a bum that played poker six hours per day, drank six hours per day and slept 12 hours per day. As soon as I kicked this habit, I quickly saw all the benefits of drinking in extreme moderation. I got in shape, played better poker, got more done and never had a hangover. When I drink more than I should, I am likely to get involved in risky behavior, usually gambling at games at which I do not have an edge. If drinking, or any other life leak, causes additional life leaks, you must stop yourself from engaging in the gateway leak. I know if I do not drink in excess, I have much more self-control regarding other leaks than when I drink like a fish. For that reason alone, I make a point to not get drunk. If you lack the self-discipline to control your drinking, I suggest you seek professional help. Drinking addiction is a serious disease. There are people out there who can help you. Do not be afraid to ask for that help.

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Smoking I know countless winning online tournament players who are smokers that transitioned to live poker, only to get demolished. They wonder why this happened, but to me, it is obvious. They constantly skip hands because they have to run and smoke a cigarette. If you skip a few hands or an orbit, occasionally you will miss hands you paid to see and will forgo valuable information. Also, smoking is bad for you. Why do something that has been proven to give you cancer? Kick that bad habit as soon as possible.

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Drugs I honestly have very little experience with drugs. Some people seem to be able to use drugs in moderation and function well. However, most people cannot. I know countless poker players who smoke marijuana. When I started playing poker, I had around ten friends who did not smoke and ten who did. Around eight who did not smoke are still around ten years later and only two of those who smoke are still around. This is obviously a small sample, but these numbers are good enough for me. The players who smoke on a regular basis seem to have less desire to succeed and improve as a person. They seem to want to go through the motions of life in a manner that gets the job done in a mediocre way. This is not my desire at all. I want to do things to the best of my ability, all the time. I have no experience with harder drugs, but from what I have seen, you want nothing to do with them unless you have a lot of time available to sit around and sober up afterwards. Drugs seem to make people lose their mind, which forces them to take time off from poker and anything else productive. Because I strive to constantly improve, I have no desire to take a week off from life. If you have a drug problem, seek professional help. I don’t have much more useful advice than that, but from what I have seen, the only desire I have had regarding drugs is to stay as far away from them as possible.

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Food Everyone has to eat, right? Well, you will find once you come into money, going out for expensive meals can become an everyday occurrence, especially if you frequent high-end casinos full of world-class restaurants. I have no problem splurging from time to time, enjoying the finer things in life, but if you spend $300 on dinner every night, you will have a tough time maintaining your bankroll unless you have a huge hourly rate. As with most life leaks, in extreme moderation, going out to a fancy meal can be a nice reward and change of pace. Taken to the extreme, it turns into a costly drain on your bankroll. Most food offerings at casinos are not healthy at all. For example, at a local casino, the healthiest thing on the poker menu is a salmon sandwich that is typically drenched in a buttery sauce. Despite what some people think, this is not a healthy option. I carry healthy food in my bag. I keep green smoothie mix in a bottle I can make whenever I am hungry, plus some almonds. This is usually enough to keep me going for 12 hours. If you come prepared, you will have no desire for a bowl of noodles or a hot dog that will put on pounds and derail your focus.

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Lending Money Assuming you never need a loan, which you should not if you manage your bankroll properly and have a reasonable sum set aside for expenses, you should feel no obligation to lend money to others. I have lent money a few times to acquaintances. With one exception, the person I lent to got sketchy and I had to almost ruin a friendship to ensure I got my money back. I currently have a very close group of friends, perhaps four people, to whom I would lend money, and even then, it would be fairly small amounts. I have heard countless stories of how someone loaned out a large chunk of money only to be stiffed or paid back much more slowly than initially agreed. If you don’t mind giving your money away, go for it, but assuming you are looking out for yourself, you should not loan money. The best way to feel no obligation to loan someone money is to never need a loan yourself. If you find yourself constantly begging others for money, you should likely get a job, play smaller or decrease your spending. As a poker player, you must be prepared to rely on yourself, not others.

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People This may come as a touchy subject, but people, particularly your family, can be a costly leak. I know numerous poker players who have given significant amounts of money and time to family members who have only caused pain and suffering in return. Family is important, and money is essentially shared in some families, but at some point, you should not be required to support adults who can easily take care of themselves. I am all for helping out people you care for whenever possible, but if you have $50,000 to your name and someone you care for asks for $40,000 to buy a house, leaving you with $10,000 to play your standard $5/$10 no-limit game, you must say no. Saying no to someone you love can be one of the hardest things possible, but you must preserve your profitability. If your bankroll takes a significant hit because someone asked for money, you will not be able to make nearly as much money in the future. Also, you may end up resenting a family member who never repaid you, which is certainly not good. However, you could reap resentment if you do not give them your hard-earned money, so this is a double-edged sword. Non-players often do not understand how money works in the poker world. Most people view money as something you can spend because you can always make more. This is understandable because most people come home from work with more money than they started with. In poker, money is a tool necessary to work. You are not guaranteed to make money in the future. Poker players often go to work with money in their pockets and come home with none. Your bankroll may appear to be a pile of spendable cash to your family and friends, but it is actually one of the most valuable tools in your arsenal. You must conserve it at all costs. Learn to say no, even though it may be difficult and heartbreaking. People can also suck you dry by asking you to finance them. This can be in the form of money on a regular basis for bills, a -EV (at least for you) stake at the poker table or paying for things when out on the town. Poker players often pay for everything when they hang out with their hometown friends. A fun night on the town may cost $500, which you make in a few hours, whereas it might take your friends a week to make that much. Hence, one can feel obligated to pay for everything. You must fight this feeling. You don’t want to encourage people to ask you to hang out because they know you will pay the bills. If you are out with six people and you all experience the same things, you should each pay 1/6th of the bill. It is as simple as that, assuming you do not want to be taken advantage of every time you are around those friends.

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Charity I am all for charity. I support quite a few charities myself with both time and money. However, I have seen a few poker players crushed because they gave too much money or time to a charity. Every year, I hear about a poker player who goes on a heater and decides to give a significant chunk of his winnings, perhaps as much as half the money he brings home, to a charity that means a great deal to him. Almost without fail, that player goes on a nasty downswing and ends up nearly broke. Obviously, you cannot go to the charity and ask for your money back. It does not make sense to give a huge amount of your bankroll to anyone, even a charity, assuming your goal in life is to provide for yourself and your family. I have seen a few poker players take year-long mission trips to faraway lands only to come back half the players they used to be. It is amazing how taking a year off from the game can hurt you, even if you are doing amazing work for less fortunate people. Assuming you are going to go away for a long time, make it a point to continue playing and thinking about poker. If you don’t, the game will pass you by. I am sure this makes me look cold-hearted. I am all for helping people in an intelligent way. Giving $10,000 to a charity each year for 10 years is much better than giving $50,000 one time, if that risks your bankroll. With a little thought, it is not tough to help the needy while maintaining your hourly rate and your means to thrive as a poker player.

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Laziness Poker players tend to get lazy either when things are going really bad or really well. For me it’s the former, but my ad vice is the same in either case. Learn to look at poker in terms of your hourly rate. If you put in hours, you will make equity, which in time, turns to money. If you play 15 hours in a week and win more than you normally win in a month, you should not take the rest of the month off. You should continue to grind as you normally would. By the same note, if you go on a large losing stretch, you should probably continue to grind, assuming you are mentally sound. If you are not mentally sound, due either to winning or losing, there is nothing wrong with taking a little time off, but realize that if you regularly take time off, you will not make nearly as much money as someone who can stay sane and put in as many hours as possible.

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Hobbies I strongly suggest everyone find a hobby. However, if your hobby becomes an obsession, you have to tone it down. Personally, I enjoy playing “Magic: the Gathering” online. It is a fun game I can play at home and it doesn’t consume too much time or money. However, especially when poker is going poorly, I spend way too much time playing “Magic”. I remember one month a few years ago when I would drive to the casino, lose a little money, go home and then spend the next eight hours playing “Magic”. This went on for around a month. Obviously, this was not good. This type of behavior can easily occur with many hobbies that are easy to engage in, such as watching television or movies, partying, playing video games, playing sports and countless other activities. While it is important to have a life outside the game, poker must constantly be in the forefront if you want to continue making money. Some overly successful poker players have developed a mindset such that they believe they can make money in poker anytime, so now, they should do whatever they enjoy most. The major flaw with this thinking is that the game you are most profitable at may not be there in the future. Also, your hobby likely costs you time and money. As a poker player, these are two priceless commodities you must conserve and use wisely. If you spend all your money you will have to move down and spend lots of hours grinding simply to get back where you were before diving headfirst into your obsession. If your hobby can cost a lot of money or consume a lot of time, use caution.

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Everything Else I am sure I have missed a few leaks in this discussion. If there is something in your life that costs you a lot of money, consumes a lot of your time, diverts your focus from poker or destroys your mind or body, it is almost certainly a leak. It is important to live a balanced life. These leaks make that nearly impossible. If you can defeat your demons, you will be well on your way to becoming unstoppable.

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Traveling the Live Circuit Most players assume that the best live cash-game professionals find a local game and play it indefinitely. It is nowhere near that simple. To remain super profitable, you have to find where the worst players play. If this is where you live, you are in luck. If your local area is bone dry, which eventually becomes the case in most locations, you will have to travel. The best cash games typically pop up wherever major tournaments are taking place. For this reason, there is a small group of cash-game players who follow around the biggest tournaments in the world but don’t play in them. The general consensus among cash-game players is that tournament players are bad at poker. They fail to realize that cash games are a different form of poker than tournaments, which is why most players who stick mainly to cash games do poorly in tournaments. Cash-game players tend to play much better in deep-stacked post-flop situations than do tournament players. Seeing how most cash games are deepstacked and played post-flop, the tournament players are usually at a huge disadvantage because most tournaments are shallow-stacked and played pre-flop. The cash games on the tournament circuit are usually best from a few days before the main event starts until the day after the final table, during the afternoon and late night. Players who bust from a tournament are usually on some form of tilt. Some of them decide to take their unhappiness to the cash-game tables shortly after busting. These players might as well take their money and hand it out to everyone at the table. I have a firm rule I live by that forbids me from playing cash games the day I bust from a major tournament and within two hours after busting from a smaller tournament. This guideline gives me plenty of time to clear my head, allowing me to play my best. If, after my required break, I sit down to a table and feel the least bit uncomfortable, I am quick to quit. If I don’t feel like playing, I don’t play. If you know a particular player just busted from a tournament, which you can usually find out by simply asking, you should generally assume he is at least somewhat tilty. It may take one or two beats to get him really upset, but once he is on raging tilt, you should expect the money to flow from his pockets. Besides following the tournament circuit around, you can also follow specific bad players. In most areas, there are several weak players who frequent various casinos on specific days, usually because they are getting comped. For example, every Monday the weak player may play at one casino and on Thursdays, he may play at another casino. If he is weak enough, you should be sure to show up wherever he happens to be. Some unethical casinos have started running what are essentially private cash games. In almost all poker rooms around the world, if there is a seat open, as long as you have the buy-in, you can sit and play. In these private games, which cater to 335

rich businessmen and a select group of pros who sometimes bribe the floor men to let them in, the floor man will tell you the list is full or the open seats are reserved for someone. While it is difficult to get in these games, especially if you are known to be a good player, if you can wriggle your way in, you should play as much as possible. Private home games are also tempting to live cash-game players. I suggest you avoid home games if other options are available to you. Quite often, the rake is exorbitant, making the game unbeatable. Even if the rake is reasonable, you have to worry about getting robbed or cheated. Even if you win, you may not be able to collect your money. While the games are usually soft, they are not worth the risk. Stick to playing in casinos whenever possible. I haven’t played a home game in a long time and I probably never will again. If you decide to only play home games, you will have to find a few games to play at, because most home games only run a few days per week. If you plan on traveling to play cash games, keep your travel expenses to a minimum. While the public holds the image of a high-rolling poker player who wears the nicest clothes, eats at the fanciest restaurants, goes to the hippest clubs and stays in the most chic hotels, it is far from the truth. Most poker players who have a level head realize that if you spend most of your profits on material possessions and overpriced experiences, you will go broke. Notice if you have a habit of spending $500 per day on various things such as dinner, shows, lodging, parties and clothes, you have to make $182,500 per year just to break even. If you save $100,000 of that $182,500 each year, still spending $82,500 on random stuff, you will have an amazing time and be $1 million richer over ten years. A penny saved is actually a penny compounded, as you can use this extra cash to boost your bankroll, allowing you to quickly move to higher games, significantly increasing your hourly rate. Keep track of everything you spend for a few months then honestly ask yourself which of those you could do without. For example, I used to have a car in Vegas that required me to pay $5,000 per year for insurance. Since I was only in Vegas for around half of the year, I did some math and realized I could rent a car for much less and I would never have to worry about maintenance. Using a cheap rental car saves a good bit of money and a lot of headaches. Another way to save a lot of money is by sharing hotel rooms or renting houses with a group of trustworthy friends. If you spend $50 per day on lodging instead of $150, you will save a lot over the course of a year. I also suggest you cut down on the amount you spend on food. I have had more than my fair share of $300 meals, and while they have all been enjoyable, they were a huge burden on my bankroll. And cut down on clubbing. Not much good comes from partying besides a hangover and a hefty bar tab. There are many more productive things you can do with your time. All of the expenses listed above seem really cheap when you only have to peel 336

off a few bills from the wad of money in your pocket to pay for them. Do not be fooled by their seeming insignificance. These travel and lifestyle leaks have been the downfall of countless, otherwise leak-free poker players.

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